Jane Fonda thinks there’s more to the Harvey Weinstein story — and the culture of sexism in Hollywood — than we’ve touched on yet. Appearing alongside Gloria Steinem on MSNBC’s All In With Chris Hayes on Wednesday, Fonda shared her thoughts about why people are paying attention to the mounting allegations against Weinstein of sexual harassment, assault and rape.
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“It feels like something has shifted,” she said. “It’s too bad that it’s probably because so many of the women that were assaulted by Harvey Weinstein are famous and white and everybody knows them. This has been going on a long time to black women and other women of color and it doesn’t get out quite the same.”
Weinstein now has more than 60 accusers, all of them white, with the exception of actress Lupita Nyong’o. Fonda also recognized that there’s strength in numbers when it comes to these kinds of accusations and that people are also likely taking note of Weinstein’s behavior because of the sheer number of women who have come forward.
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“If you steal money, you probably get arrested and convicted, because everybody says stealing is wrong. But if you do something that is very sexist or racist, because there still is a critical mass of bias in this country, it takes more cumulative instances for it to be recognized,” she explained. “So we have reached a tipping point, I think.”
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Fonda and Steinem were on the show on behalf of their non-profit The Women’s Media Center, which works to advance women in media industries.
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