Hollywood stars who will be attending the BAFTA Film Awards have been urged to wear black to the event in support of Time’s Up movement.
The Golden Globes Awards, which were held last month, witnessed a rare moment in history with many prominent Hollywood A-listers, including men, donning black and Time’s Up pin to protest against gender inequality and sexual harassment in Hollywood.
This was followed by Grammy Awards where the stars turned up wearing a white rose to support the cause of gender equality.
Now, according to a letter sent by a “collective of UK based female film and television industry leaders”, the attendees have been asked to follow suit and wear black.
“With BAFTA being the first major film awards ceremony in Europe this year, we feel it is important to make a statement to show global solidarity and that the issue is not being forgotten, and to join hands with people across all industries who have experienced inequality and abuse,” the letter stated, reported Deadline.
“Wearing black is a strong, unifying and simple statement a physical and visual representation of our solidarity with people across all industries who have experienced sexual harassment and abuse or have been held back due to an imbalance in power. It is also the easiest colour for the majority to wear and feel comfortable in,” it added.
The letter also states that more than half of all women in the UK experienced sexual harassment at work and figure rises to two thirds for women between the ages of 18 to 24.
“We hope that those of us who are privileged enough to have a platform, can use it to raise awareness of the experiences of women beyond our industry, whose experiences are often silenced and marginalised,” it added.
The ‘Time’s Up’ campaign was launched by powerful Hollywood women to fight against sexual harassment in wake of Harvey Weinstein scandal.
A New York Times article first exposed Weinstein’s history of sexual misconduct, encouraging powerful women to open up about the producer.
The expose had a domino effect with other major names such as Kevin Spacey, Brett Ratner, James Toback, Jeremy Piven and Dustin Hoffman being accused of similar misdeeds.
PTI
