Who are the men who have been accused of sexual misconduct and have had their lives and careers affected? We’re beginning with Harvey Weinstein because that’s when #MeToo began to gain traction and women (and some men) began to realize that they could speak about how they had been harassed, or even raped, without fear that they would be treated the way that Juanita Broaddrick , Paula Jones, and Kathleen Willey were treated.
1. Harvey Weinstein: October 5, 2017, the New York Times published an article that detailed his numerous incidents of sexual harassment. After the article was published, many more women came forward to say that they had been harassed, or even raped, by Weinstein.
Weinstein’s apology after the first accusations included a bit about how he was going to focus his attention on the NRA and making a movie that he hoped would lead to Trump having a “retirement party”. Even that wasn’t enough to appease the liberals.
To date, 77 women have accused him of sexual harassment and a dozen have accused him of rape. (Wikipedia) After the initial accusations were made public, he was fired from his production company and his wife announced that she was leaving him.
2. Roy Price: October 12, 2017, the head of Amazon Studios was accused of harassing women. He had been known for becoming extremely intoxicated at company events and for casing after young actresses. An earlier complaint about him resulted in counseling. After the October 12 report, Amazon placed him on leave, he later resigned. His fiance, Lila Feinberg, called off their wedding that had been set for November 12.
3. Lockhart Steele: October 19, 2017, the editorial director of Vox Media and former managing editor of Gawker was accused of sexual harassment and “unwanted kissing”. His “punishment after a previous complaint was to be told he could no longer drink at company events. After this accusation came out, he was fired from Vox Media.
4. James Toback: October 22, 2017, an article in the Los Angeles Times accused the screenwriter, actor, and director of sexually harassing multiple women.
Toback reacted to the article by denying he knew the women and saying that his health problems kept him from doing the things they had accused him of. Over three hundred (yes, 300!) more women came forward with similar stories of how he had harassed them.
He was dropped by his agent.
5. Leon Wieseltier: October 24, 2017, the former literary editor of The New Republic and a contributing editor of The Atlantic was accused of sexual harassment. He was fired from his job with The Atlantic three days later. He had also been working on a new publication about how technology affects people’s lives. Funding for that publication was withdrawn. He was also suspended from his position with the Brookings Institution, where he had been the Isaiah Berlin Senior Fellow in Culture and Policy.
6. Rick Najera: October 26, 2017, The Director of CBS’s Diversity Showcase was accused of sexual harassment and of making inappropriate comments. He resigned.
7. Kevin Spacey: October 29, 2017, actor Anthony Rapp says that Spacey made sexual advances toward him when Rapp was 14 and Spacey was 26. Fifteen more allegations by others have been made since then.
Spacey used his statement after the accusation to come out as gay. As an actor, his timing is fantastic, as a person, his timing sucks. The LGBTQ community was not happy about him linking “gay” with “child molester”.
Filming on his Netflix show, House of Cards, was suspended and Netflix also decided not to release a movie about Gore Vidal that Spacey had starred in.
8. Hamilton Fish: October 30, 2017, the president and publisher of The New Republic and publisher and editorial director of The Washington Spectator was accused of sex abuse by female employees of The New Republic. He resigned from his position with TNR.
9. Michael Oreskes: October 31, 2017, the head of news at NPR and former New York Times editor was accused of sexual harassment by three women. He was put on indefinite leave and then resigned. NPR had been aware of, and ignored, his behavior for at least two years.
10. Andy Dick: October 31, 2017, the comedian/actor was accused of sexual harassment and groping…and licking.
This wasn’t the first time he had been accused of sexual misconduct. He mooned people in a McDonald’s in 2004. In 2005, he dropped his pants while on stage and exposed himself. At the Comedy Central Roast for William Shatner in 2006, he licked the faces of Farrah Fawcett, Carrie Fisher, and Patton Oswalt. (Considering Farrah and Carrie died relatively young, if I were Patton, I would be concerned that Dick’s lick was a death curse.)
When he was appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2007, he kept repeatedly touching Ivanka Trump and had to be removed from the stage. (That was back when liberals still liked Ivanka.) In 2008 he pulled down the tank top and bra of a 17-year-old, exposing her breasts. By 2010, he was back to exposing himself, because that never gets old. He was thrown out of the AVN Awards (an award ceremony for porn) for groping and stalking an actress and drag performer.
In 2011 he was exposing himself again at the Newport Beach Film Festival. Finally, in October 2017, he was fired from a role in the film Raising Buchanan after he had groped people’s genitals and licked their faces. He was also fired from another movie, Vampire Dad, for inappropriate behavior.
11. Brett Ratner: November 1, 2017, the producer and director was accused of rape. Several other women also accused him of sexual assault and harassment. Warner Bros, the company for which he had made several films cut ties with him. Playboy Enterprises ended plans with Ratner to do a biopic of Hugh Hefner. His whiskey brand, Hilhaven Lodge has been discontinued by Diageo (makers of Smirnoff, Bailey’s, Johnnie Walker, Ketel One, Gordon’s Gin, Tanqueray, Crown Royal, Godiva Liqueur, Harp Lager, and Guiness, among others.)
12. Jeff Hoover: November 1, 2017, the Kentucky Speaker of the House was accused of sexual harassment and inappropriate text messages. A woman had engaged in suggestive texting with Hoover because she had been told she needed to make him happy to advance her career. She later re-evaluated her relationship with him and decided it was harassment. As a result, Hoover stepped down from his role as speaker after the governor and eight House Republicans called on him to resign.
13. Ed Westwick: November 7, 2017, the actor was accused of rape by two women. A third woman accused him of sexual assault. The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating.
14. Jeffrey Tambor: November 8, 2017, the actor was accused of sexual harassment and unwanted physical contact by two transgender actresses. Amazon, the producer of the show Transparent, in which he was starring, launched an investigation. Tambor resigned from the show before the investigation produced any results. He said, “Given the politicized atmosphere that seems to have afflicted our set, I don’t see how I can return to Transparent.” It’s not as if a show about transgendered people isn’t politicized, his problem is that the politics turned against him.
15. Roy Moore: November 9, 2017, the Alabama candidate for the senate was accused of dating teenage girls when he was in his early 30s. The Republican National Committee withdrew financing for his campaign.
16. Louis CK: November 9, 2017, the comedian was accused of masturbating in front of several women and other sexual misconduct. A movie release and a comedy special were cancelled.
17. Andrew Kreisberg: November 10, 2017, the TV show executive producer was accused by fifteen women and four men of sexual harassment. He was suspended from his shows (Arrow, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, The Flash).
18. Eddie Berganza: November 10, 2017, the editor at DC Comics (which is owned by Warner Bros) was accused of groping and forcibly kissing women. He was fired.
He harassed women who worked for him. They complained to HR. For years, nothing was done by the company to stop his behavior towards women but instead they promoted him to executive editor. Finally, this November the tide has shifted and it became politically expedient to put an end to his harassment.
19. Al Franken: November 16, 2017. the comedian/Democratic senator was accused of inappropriate touching (groping and kissing), along with sexual harassment. Other than being asked to remove his name as a co-sponsor of a bill, there haven’t been any repercussions for the senator.
20. Charlie Rose: November 20, 2017, the TV political talk show host was accused of sexual harassment (groping, lewd phone calls , being naked in front of them) by eight women. His job with CBS was ended and his PBS talk show was cancelled.
21. John Lassetar: November 21, 2017, the head of Pixar and Walt Disney Animation was accused of sexual harassment, groping, unwanted kissing, and making comments about women’s physical attributes. Former Pixar employees said that this has been going on for decades and young women were warned of his behavior and to keep their distance from him.
He announced he was going to take a six month sabbatical (paid vacation)
22. John Conyers: November 22, 2017, the Democratic Congressman from Michigan was accused of sexual harassment of members of his staff, discrimination against certain staff on the basis of age, and using official resources for impermissible personal purposes. The House Ethics Committee has begun an investigation. It’s not the first time Conyers has been investigated by the Ethics Committee. In 2006 he got in trouble for forcing his staff to babysit and chauffeur his children.
In 2015 a sexual harassment charge was made against Conyers by a female employee. She was paid a settlement of $27,000, made with public funds.
Overall, Congress has paid out over $17 million dollars over the last 20 years in settlements. (For all the harassers and other violations, not just for Conyers.) These payments are for sexual harassment, workplace discrimination, and other cases. Congress isn’t very transparent when it comes to the reasons these payments are made or on whose behalf (what Congressman/woman) they are made. We only know the amount and that there were 268 settlements. This year, we the taxpayers have paid out almost $1 million for eight settlements for Congressional misbehavior.
To be continued….
Who do you think will be next? Will Bill Clinton ever be held to account for the rape of Juanita Broaddrick and the sexual assault of Kathleen Willey and sexual harassment of Paula Jones?