Meryl Streep, who now claims to be “leading the charge” against sexual harassment in the entertainment industry, has been close friends with Harvey Weinstein, now accused of dozens of sexual assaults, for decades, and led support for convicted child rapist Roman Polanski when he petitioned to return to the United States from self-imposed exile in Europe without facing charges.
But don’t dare ask her about it, or she’ll bravely suggest you start asking questions of other women she believes “covered up” for sexual assault.
The New York Times dared to ask the faultless Streep about her silence in the face of allegations that her longtime friend Weinstein, with whom she’s held fundraisers and enjoyed a close, personal relationship by her own admission, and Streep responded by shaming the paper and attacking — of course — Ivanka and Melania Trump.
“I don’t want to hear about the silence of me,” Streep snapped. “I want to hear about the silence of Melania Trump. I want to hear from her. She has so much that’s valuable to say. And so does Ivanka. I want her to speak now.”
Technically, the president’s daughter, Ivanka, has spoken out about sexual harassment — and strongly — telling an audience in Japan in November that sexual harassment should “never be tolerated.” Ivanka also appeared to chastise her own father for his support of Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore shortly before that election, telling reporters that there “is a special place in hell” for people who prey on children when asked about Moore’s dating exploits.
But that’s immaterial. Ivanka and Melania Trump aren’t really relevant to the question of whether Meryl Streep could have put a stop to Weinstein’s exploitation years before his activities came to light. Only she can answer for that.
Meryl Streep, in her first statement about Harvey Weinstein, was more concerned with her own reputation; nearly half her essay, issued to the Huffington Post by her publicist, was about how she had absolutely no idea Harvey Weinstein was preying on young actresses and, allegedly, sexually assaulting women in hotel rooms in both New York and Los Angeles, even though many women have come forward to claim Weinstein’s behavior was an open secret among the Hollywood elite.
Even if Streep was somehow blissfully unaware of Weinstein’s extra-curricular activities, there was no way she could have been in the dark about Roman Polanski’s history. The director famously escaped to Europe when he received a much harsher sentence than promised for drugging and then raping and sodomizing a 13 year old girl. Over the years, he’s racked up other allegations, and the LAPD is, reportedly, now investigating at least five more rape allegations against the “Rosemary’s Baby” director.
Streep led the audience in giving Polanski a standing ovation when he received a lifetime achievement award in absentia at the Golden Globes several years ago, and her name appears prominently on a petition begging the Los Angeles County Prosecutor to consider dropping Polanski’s sentence so that he could return to the United States, because his talent at directing films somehow erases his penchant for pedophilia.
But she’s wearing black to the Golden Globes, you know, so that makes everything so much better.
Later on in the interview, Streep got, somehow, shallower and more self-aggrandizing.
“It’s great to be asked to step up because you know what, everybody should,” she told the reporter.
Sure.