Alyssa Milano joins #MeToo creator on ‘Today’ to discuss Time Person of the Year cover
Time has named “The Silence Breakers” as their Person of the Year 2017, meaning the women and others who stepped forward to break their silence about sexual harassment and sexual assault.
And on the “Today” show, Alyssa Milano and #MeToo creator Tarana Burke spoke out about the changing culture that led to this moment in history.
“This was just the start. I’ve been saying from the beginning, it’s not just a moment, it’s a movement,” Burke told Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb. “Movements take time, they build over time, and they’re strategic. I think now the work really begins. Hashtag is a declaration, but now we’re poised to really stand up and do the work of it.”
Milano didn’t create the hashtag but did urge social media users to spread it around and said that her friend and co-star had inspired her to champion the cause.
“My friend Rose McGowan had been very hurt and silenced for a long time, and she was fighting back and I wanted to support her in what she was going through,” she said. “And in turn, support women everywhere. So I thought, you know, if women could just come forward and say #MeToo — just two beautiful words that Tarana started — then we could really start to shape this and get an idea of the magnitude of this issue and this problem. And I sent the tweet and I went to sleep. I woke up and there were 53,000 replies.”
The #MeToo movement continues to grow as women take on sexual misconduct in every aspect of their lives, and we’re glad to see its creator getting the credit she deserves.
— So disrespectful: Ashanti, other Black women performers damned if they do, damned if they don’t —
