Rose McGowan at Women's Convention: 'I have been slut-shamed, I have been harassed … and it will not stand'
The #RoseArmy is on the move. On Friday, Rose McGowan attended the Women’s Convention in Detroit, where she took the stage, rallying the crowd to “rise” as the monsters “must die.”
It’s the Scream star’s first public appearance since the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke earlier this month. McGowan is one of the 40-plus women to come forward, alleging that the producer is guilty of sexual harassment, assault, or other misconduct. The actress claims the disgraced movie mogul raped her in 1997.
McGowan, 44, was introduced to the stage by Tarana Burke, who started the #MeToo movement 10 years ago.
“Thank you for all of the strong, powerful Me Too’s, because we are all Me Too,” McGowan began, according to CBS News. “And thank you, Tarana, for giving us two words and a hashtag that freed us.”
The actress continued, “I have been silenced for 20 years. I have been slut-shamed, I have been harassed. I have been maligned, and you know what? I’m just like you. Because what happened to me behind the scenes happens to all of us in society, and it cannot stand and it will not stand.”
McGowan has been highly active on Twitter in the wake of the Weinstein scandal, where the #RoseArmy was created. “It’s about the flower, because we have thorns and thorns carry justice,” she said of the hashtag.
“It’s time to rise. It’s time to be brave in the face of unspeakable actions. From one monster we look away to another,” McGowan exclaimed, adding that the monsters “must die.”
“For all of us who have been grabbed by the motherf***ing p***y, no more,” she said. “Name it. Shame it. Call it out. Join me. Join all of us as we amplify each other’s voices.”
The Charmed star also pointed out the need for more women behind the scenes in Hollywood, saying, “We are given one view. I know the men behind the view, and they should not be in your mind and they should not be in mine. It’s time to clean the house. The scarlet letter is theirs. It is not ours.”
She concluded, “We will not go away. I am brave and I am you.”
After exposés by the New York Times and the New Yorker, the actress alleged on Twitter that “HW” raped her. She confirmed to the Hollywood Reporter that she was referring to Harvey Weinstein. The producer has denied any allegations of nonconsensual sex.
Per the Times, Weinstein allegedly paid McGowan a settlement of $100,000 in 1997 after an incident occurred in a hotel room at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. The settlement also reportedly included a nondisclosure agreement, which prohibits the actress from speaking about the incident. While McGowan hasn’t been shy in calling out Weinstein on Twitter, she did not identify a “monster” by name at Friday’s convention.
According to reports from the Daily Beast and TMZ, Weinstein’s former lawyer and supposed women’s rights advocate Lisa Bloom actively investigated the actress and her sexual history in an alleged attempt to discredit her.
It’s clear that McGowan will not be silenced, as she has emerged as one of the most vocal women speaking out against sexual assault and those she finds culpable. Later Friday, she will also participate in the panel “Fighting for Survivors of Sexual Assault in the Age of Betsy DeVos.”
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