Tarana Burke, the founder of the #MeToo movement that emerged following the sexual misconduct accusations against former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein last October, took to Twitter on Monday to uphold the movement’s values following the accusations lodged at actress Asia Argento.
“People will use these recent news stories to try and discredit this movement – don’t let that happen. This is what Movement is about. It’s not a spectator sport. It is people generated. We get to say ‘this is/isn’t what this movement is about!’” Burke wrote on Twitter in a thread. “There is no model survivor. We are imperfectly human and we all have to be accountable for our individual behavior.”
https://twitter.com/TaranaBurke/status/1031498206260150272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1031498206260150272&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hollywoodreporter.com%2Fnews%2Fme-founder-tarana-burke-responds-asia-argento-report-1135904
…and begin to talk about power. Sexual violence is about power and privilege. That doesn’t change if the perpetrator is your favorite actress, activist or professor of any gender.
And we won’t shift the culture unless we get serious about shifting these false narratives.— Tarana (@TaranaBurke) August 20, 2018
My hope is that as more folks come forward, particularly men, that we prepare ourselves for some hard conversations about power and humanity and privilege and harm. This issue is less about crime & punishment and more about harm and harm reduction.
— Tarana (@TaranaBurke) August 20, 2018
A shift can happen. This movement is making space for possibility. But, it can only happen after we crack open the whole can of worms and get really comfortable with the uncomfortable reality that there is no one way to be a perpetrator.
— Tarana (@TaranaBurke) August 20, 2018
…and there is no model survivor.
We are imperfectly human and we all have to be accountable for our individual behavior.— Tarana (@TaranaBurke) August 20, 2018
People will use these recent news stories to try and discredit this movement – don’t let that happen. This is what Movement is about. It’s not a spectator sport. It is people generated. We get to say “this is/isn’t what this movement is about!”
— Tarana (@TaranaBurke) August 20, 2018
Argento emerged was one of the first women to accuse Weinstein of sexual assault.
On Sunday evening, the New York Times published a report that Argento had paid a settlement last November to Jimmy Bennett, a now-22-year-old actor-musician who played Argento’s son in the 2004 film “The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things.”
The documents obtained by the Times indicate that Bennett met Argento in a California hotel room in May 2013 — just two months after his 17th birthday — where he said she sexually assaulted him.
Bennett’s lawyer, Gordon K. Sattro, had sent Argento an intent to sue her for $3.5 million in damages for the infliction of emotional distress, lost wages, assault and battery.
Rose McGowan — a fellow Weinstein accuser — also came out on Twitter Monday, distancing herself from Argento, with whom she had become friends.
“My heart is broken,” McGowan wrote.
https://twitter.com/rosemcgowan/status/1031477689947967489
https://twitter.com/rosemcgowan/status/1031535197433602048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1031535197433602048&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thewrap.com%2Frose-mcgowan-asia-argento-assault-accusation%2F