Celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Salma Hayek, Reese Witherspoon, and more were quick to voice their support for the #MeToo Hollywood non-profit organization Time’s Up five years ago, but have been absolutely silent now that it’s collapsed.
Time’s Up was originally created to fight sexual harassment in the entertainment industry following numerous allegations against Harvey Weinstein. However, news recently surfaced that the time is up for Time’s Up, after it announced it was halting operations and the group’s remaining $1.7 million in funds were being reallocated to a legal defense fund.
The collapse for the group started two years ago when the head of Time’s Up Tina Tchen and attorney Roberta Kaplan were found to have helped then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo handle sexual harassment allegations brought by accuser Lindsey Boylan and 10 others, The New York Times reported. The group was also found to remain silent when it came to helping Joe Biden’s former aide, Tara Reade, in her sexual assault accusations against Biden, the outlet noted. In 2021, the two resigned amid revelations the group was found to be partisan.
But five years ago, things looked very different for the group started by founders Witherspoon and Winfrey, who helped the charity gain huge media attention, the Times noted. Stars like Michelle Williams, Meryl Streep, and Emma Watson proudly showed off their “Time’s Up” pins at the 2018 Golden Globes on their black gowns in support of the group, the Associated Press noted.
On stage at the Globes, Winfrey warned abusers that “Their time is up!” and was greeted by a standing ovation. A year later, celebrities donned black and white “Time’s Up” ribbons at the 2019 Golden Globes.
However, in 2020 Winfrey walked away from her Apple TV+ documentary that would have highlighted the “Time’s Up” group citing creative differences, Business Insider noted.
In August 2021, co-founder Shonda Rhimes, released a statement showing her support for the group’s agenda amid allegations about Tchen and Kaplan, the NYT noted.
“The fact that Time’s Up has become viewed as a receptacle for and the focus of men trying to cover up their obscene behaviors is exhausting to me,” producer Rhimes shared at the time. “Saving men, especially predatory men, is not on Time’s Up agenda.”
Not long after Tchen and Kaplan’s resignation, board members Rhimes and Eva Longoria left Time’s Up, Vogue noted.
“Time’s Up is ready for new leadership, and we want to move forcefully toward its new iteration,” a statement from the exiting board members read, Deadline noted.
In September 2021, Longoria defended the group, but shared that there was more work that needed to be done.
“It’s okay to make mistakes in the efforts to topple the patriarchy. Mistakes will be made,” the actress shared. “It doesn’t mean the efforts should stop. We have to continue. We’ve been under thousands of years of a patriarchal society. It’s not going to topple in the three years that Time’s Up has existed. We have so much more work to be done.”
At that same time, the organization’s advisory board quietly dissolved which included a star-studded list of Hollywood’s leading ladies; Natalie Portman, Jessica Chastain, Laura Dern, Julianne Moore, Janelle Monae, Brie Larson, Tessa Thompson, Padma Lakshmi, America Ferrera, Kerry Washington, Alyssa Milano, and Amy Schumer.
And all these actresses mentioned connected to the group in some form or another have been absolutely silent since news broke in January about Time’s Up shutting down operations.
Time’s Up board member Ashley Judd has remained silent as well about the organization’s implosion, only sharing in November 2021 that despite the revelations about Tchen and Kaplan, the world needed “Time’s Up,” Variety noted.
“We still need Time’s Up, and that’s why we’re going down to the studs, taking a look at the mistakes we made, learning from our errors and being completely transparent and accountable in the same way that we demand other organizations be transparent and accountable,” Judd said. “We’re going to get it right.”
Judd also promised that Time’s Up would rise again in 2022.
In January, Judd — one of the last remaining board members — stepped down as Time’s Up Now and the Time’s Up Foundation, the two groups that formed what is commonly known as Time’s Up, shut down, the AP noted.
During a recent episode of “The Megyn Kelly Show” podcast, the host asked where are all the stars who spoke out for Time’s Up now that it’s collapsed? Because, she said, it went “partisan” in the people it supported.
“I wanna hear those actresses come out and say they are sorry,” Kelly stated. “And that they will fund a new organization that gets back to mission focus of helping anyone whether they are accusing a Democrat or a Republican who has been harassed at the office. Otherwise they can pound sand.”