Cate Blanchett Says #MeToo 'Got Killed Very Quickly' in Hollywood
CANNES, France — Australian actor Cate Blanchett has said the #MeToo movement has been "killed very quickly" in Hollywood, adding that momentum for change around sexual misconduct and gender equality has stalled. Speaking at the Cannes Film Festival in southern France, Blanchett said she still observes a stark gender imbalance on film sets, despite years of activism.
"It got killed very quickly, which I think is interesting," Blanchett said. "There are a lot of people with platforms who are able to speak up with relative safety and say, 'This has happened to me'. And the so-called average woman on the street, person on the street, is saying 'me too'. Why does that get shut down?"
Blanchett, who served as jury president at Cannes in 2018, took part in a red-carpet protest that year when she and 81 other women stood on the steps of the Palais des Festivals to represent the total number of female directors selected for the festival's competition since its inception. Over the same period, 1,866 male directors had been selected.
"I'm still on film sets and I do the headcount every day. There's 10 women and there's 75 men every morning," she said. "I love men, but what happens is, the jokes become the same. You just have to brace yourself slightly, and I'm used to that, but it just gets boring for everybody when you walk into a homogeneous workplace."
The #MeToo movement was founded by activist Tarana Burke to support women and girls of colour experiencing sexual violence in the American South.
Her comments come as the legacy of #MeToo faces renewed scrutiny amid the latest rape trial involving Harvey Weinstein, whose conduct helped spark the global movement in 2017. Nearly 100 women accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct spanning decades.
Related Developments
Meanwhile, in a separate development, French singer and actor Patrick Bruel is under investigation in France and Belgium over allegations of rape and sexual violence, as reported by France 24.
Additionally, a UN Women report, led by Professor Julie Posetti, has found that women in public life are facing increasingly sophisticated online violence, especially with the emergence of AI. The report was highlighted in a France 24 program, The 51 Percent, which discussed broader issues of sexual violence within the film industry.
Coverage Notes
ABC Australia and France 24 both reported Blanchett's remarks, with slightly different phrasings. ABC Australia quoted her as saying the movement was "killed very quickly," while France 24 described it as "killed off." Both outlets attributed the same underlying sentiment to Blanchett. The UN Women report and the Bruel investigation were only mentioned by France 24.