Earlier this week, actress Cate Blanchett—who starred in Woody Allen’s 2013 film Blue Jasmine and hasn’t had much of anything to say publicly in the intervening years about child abuse allegations leveled against the director by his daughter, Dylan Farrow—spoke about Allen and #MeToo during an appearance on CNN’s Amanpour.
The question, posed by veteran CNN journalist Christine Amanpour was “How do you…juxtapose being a #MeToo proponent, a Times Up proponent, and staying silent, or having worked with Woody Allen, would you work with him again?”
To which Blanchett responded:
“I don’t think I’ve stayed silent at all. At the time that I worked with Woody Allen I knew nothing of the allegations and it came out during the—at the time that the film [Blue Jasmine, 2013] was released, and at the time I said, you know, it’s a very painful and complicated situation for the family, which I hope they have the ability to resolve, and if these allegations need to be reexamined—in my understanding they’ve been through court—then I’m a big believer in the justice system and setting legal precedence. If the case needs to be reopened then I am absolutely whole-heartedly in support of that, because I think that there’s one thing about social media is fantastic about raising awareness about issues, but it’s not the judge and jury, and so I feel that these things need to go into court, so that if these abuses have happened that the person is prosecuted, so that someone who’s not in the shiny industry that I can can use that precedent to protect themselves.”
Here’s that clip.
There’s a lot that’s frustrating here. For one, the conversation around Allen and the accusations against him is so vital because it’s necessarily taking place outside of the courts. When the courts fail to deliver justice, and therefore precedent, for victims of sexual abuses of all kinds, the collective, cultural evaluating of what’s to be done doesn’t dissipate.
And there’s plenty more to pick apart here—from the uses of social media, to the relatively recent spate of celebrity disavowals, and the celebrity as role model—so, have at it.
Happy Birthday, Reese Witherspoon!
- Bill Cosby’s lawyers requested that the judge in his upcoming retrial step down because his wife, in her capacity as a social worker, advocates on behalf of assault victims. [THR]
- Lin-Manuel Miranda and Ben Platt will by at March For Our Lives on Saturday, DC edition. [Deadline]
- Sean Penn does not love acting anymore. Retire? [Deadline]
- Matt Damon has Ben Affleck’s back. Though not in a literal sense, lucky for him. [E!]
- Sure, but once you utter the words “I could not be outdone by a 6-year-old” haven’t you, in a sense, already lost? [Page Six]