A year after #MeToo first began to change the power dynamics in entertainment, media and politics, a new analysis by The New York Times shows nearly half of the high-profile men who were toppled by movement have been replaced by women.
According to the report, at least 200 men have been either fired or demoted following accusations of sexual misconduct. Of them, about 122 were replaced and 53 of those replacements were women, or 43 percent.
One-third of these women work in news media, one-fourth in government, and one-fifth in the arts.
Robin Wright, the analysis noted, replaced actor Kevin Spacey as lead actor on “House of Cards,” after he was accused of sexually assaulting multiple people, including actor Anthony Rapp. Emily Nemens replaced Lorin Stein as editor of “The Paris Review,” and Tina Smith replaced Al Franken as a Minnesota senator.
By contrast, the year before saw fewer than 30 high-profile people resigning or being fired over accusations of sexual misconduct, the Times said. At least 920 people were reportedly subjected to sexual misconduct by someone on the list.
The changes could have significant, wide-ranging implications across industries, the analysis suggests.
For example, Jennifer Salke, who replaced Roy Price as head of Amazon Studios, has already announced deals with the actors Lena Waithe and Nicole Kidman. And Tanzina Vega, who took over from John Hockenberry as host Public Radio International’s “The Takeaway,” has focused some of her work on gender, women’s anger and the intersection of gender and race.
“We’ve never seen something like this before,” Joan Williams, a law professor who studies gender at the University of California, Hastings, told the paper. “Women have always been seen as risky, because they might do something like have a baby. But men are now being seen as more risky hires.”
More than 10 percent of the men who have been toppled have already tried to make a comeback, including Louis C.K., who recently performed at a comedy clubs in New York City, and radio host Garrison Keillor, who, according to the Times, has restarted “The Writer’s Almanac” as a podcast and received $275,000 to allow Minnesota Public Radio to repost archived episodes of his programs. Meanwhile, founder and former owner of the Carolina Panthers Jerry Richardson was fined $2.75 million by the N.F.L. after he was accused of sexual harassment. He sold the team for a record $2.2 billion.