Sexual assault and harassment has been prevalent in Hollywood (and other industries) pretty much forever. But Harvey Weinstein‘s downfall is exposing the pervasive nature of such abuse like never before, and more and more people are coming forward.
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And that list includes more than just women. On the heels of James Van Der Beek and Terry Crews telling stories of their own sexual harassment in the industry, Scandal‘s Tony Goldwyn responded to Lupita Nyong’o’s New York Times op-ed about hers at the hands of Weinstein. And while Goldwin chose not to name his abuser, he’s part of a growing number of men who are showing that anyone can be a victim of abuse.
“It happened to me when I was literally Lupita’s age, in my last year of acting school,” Goldwyn said. “It happened to me by a man and it wasn’t as extended or awful as what Lupita went through, but it was the same thing. It was the casting couch and I didn’t understand quite what was going on, or what was happening.”
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Goldwyn said he never came forward because, like so many of the others who have told their stories in recent weeks, he thought he was at fault for what happened to him. He explained that it took him years to come to terms with things and realize that he had been victimized. He also acknowledged that while men do suffer sexual abuse, it’s women who are the overwhelming majority of victims.
“It’s something women have to deal with in every situation, in every industry with powerful men,” he said.
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Hopefully, this will inspire more people of all genders to report sexual misconduct. The more people come forward, the more society will see what an unacceptably pervasive problem this is.
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