Time's Up all-black demonstration hops the pond to BAFTAs red carpet
LONDON -- Mirroring a prominent demonstration in the United States, actors and actresses attending the British Academy Film Awards wore all black on the red carpet in support of the Time's Up movement.
Margot Robbie, Sally Hawkins, Emma Roberts, Lupita Nyong'o, Jennifer Lawrence and Angelina Jolie were among the performers decked out in black on Sunday. Many male attendees also sported Time's Up lapel pins in support of the movement.
While the Time's Up movement has largely concentrated its efforts on North America, nearly 200 prominent actresses, activists and other public figures signed a unity letter published in The Observer before the BAFTAs calling for Time's Up to become a global movement.
"Perhaps Time's Up seems a million miles away to you - started by a group of women with privilege. The truth is, we are all workers, and whether we're in the limelight or in the shadows, our voices matter. With our collective power, we can galvanise others," the letter, titled "Dear Sisters," read in part.
That letter announced the UK Justice and Equality Fund, which will "provide a network of expert advice, support and advocacy organisations across the UK" much like the Time's Up Legal Defense fund in the United States.
"It's easy to dismiss harassment and abuse as being caused by 'one or two really, really bad men' but the UK statistics point to a much bigger and more structural problem. This issue is systemic, as opposed to individual, one-off events," wrote Emma Roberts, who kicked off that fund with a donation of 1 million pounds.
Ahead of the BAFTAs, the official Time's Up Twitter account shared statistics about sexual harassment in the United Kingdom.
"Research in the UK has found that more than half of all women and nearly two-thirds of women aged 18-24 said they have experienced sexual harassment at work," one tweet read. "At the #BAFTAs and beyond, we wear black to say #TIMESUP on workplace abuse, inequality and harassment."
People magazine first reported in December that several high-profile women in Hollywood were coordinating an effort to wear black to the Golden Globe Awards in a protest against sexual misconduct.
The demonstration comes after a watershed period during which dozens of men in media, entertainment, journalism, politics and business have been accused of varying degrees of sexual misconduct. Among those felled by the accusations are cinema mogul Harvey Weinstein, former NBC anchor Matt Lauer, comedian Louis CK and Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore.
