LOS ANGELES, Nov 19 (AP) The confusion over the purpose and mission. Lack of focus on long term goals. Ineffective communication internally and externally. Lack of accountability to top executives, especially the CEO. Very politically partisan, and also aligned with Hollywood. These are some of the issues raised in a report commissioned by Time’s Up and released on Friday in the name of transparency as the group promised a major reset. It comes three months after a damaging scandal forced Chief Executive Tina Ten to go on the disclosure that the group’s leaders had advised the former New York government. Andrew Cuomo’s administration was first accused of sexual assault last year.
We’re going down to the studs, said Ashley Judd, one of the group’s most visible members and a key early voice in the wider #MeToo movement, in an interview. We are going to rebuild and reset and come back to a way that respects our mandate, incorporates the voices of our critics, learns from our findings and holds ourselves accountable but also lives up to our potential. Is.
Judd and Monifa Bandele, interim leaders since September, spoke to the Associated Press ahead of the report’s release, which coincides with a major employee turmoil. Most of the staff of 25 were informed on Friday that they would be departing at the end of the year, with Bandele joining the remaining three skeleton crew. Four members of the board, including Judd, will remain on as the organization decides its next steps and chooses leadership. Both women stressed that Time’s Up is vitally important as an advocacy group for women. Bandele, who says she decided not to seek a permanent CEO role herself, said that even those who are her toughest, toughest critics, she said, we still need time up. Is required. Time’s Up is going to play an important role in our movement. I haven’t seen any burn it all down. And Judd offered an emotional defense of the organization, saying she feels as active and committed today as she did when she launched Time’s Up in the wake of allegations against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, whom she herself accused of sexual assault. Was. The need for fair, safe, respectful workplaces for all types of women is still urgent.
Describing the group’s relevance, Judd told an anecdote about how a visiting producer came up to him on a film and mentioned a film he had worked on years earlier. I should have been with you when I got the chance, he announced, he said, in front of the entire crew and his wife. Judd did not identify the producer. Judd said she knew she was harassed, and looked to SAG, the Screen Actors Guild’s home page, for help. There was no help for me. And today, because of Time’s Up, I have a sexual harassment hotline on my union membership card.
All our norms have changed, Judd said. No more sitting in hotel rooms. No more meetings before and after standard working hours. The intimacy coordinator on set, and you can take a friend with you to audition for security. They’re making tremendous strides in our industry.” Time’s Up was formed four years ago by a group of high-profile Hollywood female producers, agents, movie stars, to build on momentum from the Weinstein scandal and sexual in their own right. Eager to fight oppression in the industry and beyond. The group promised to be a voice for women of all walks of life, but it has been plagued by criticism from outside, and also that it has a lot to do with Hollywood. was more connected and less attentive to the needs of others. When Bandele took over interim leadership, he vowed that the group would ask itself: What are our conflicts of interest, what are our guardrails? Written by independent advisor Leilani M. Brown The release of the report forms the first phase of the group’s reset; the next phase, Bandele said, is strategic planning, and a final phase will be implementation.
This is a necessary reset, not a retreat,” Board Chair Gabrielle Sulzberger said in a statement. It is up to us to learn from these findings, and focus on building an organization that powerfully serves women of all types. and end impunity, sexual harassment and assault in the workplace. Already, Bandele said, the report has been successful in that we have actually demonstrated transparency and openness in a way that is weak. And so it feels good. Plus, it’s bitter.
Among the findings: there was internal confusion about the purpose and mission, which for some time remained largely undefined. Partly this was because the organization evolved too rapidly, the report said, from a jet plane to a rocket ship overnight. Leaders were often viewed as pursuing short-term goals rather than a long-term strategic vision.
Communication was inconsistent and fragmented. Some members were disappointed to hear from the media about allegations related to the Cuomo case, not Time’s Up itself. (Techen’s August 26 resignation followed the earlier departure of the organization’s president, Roberta Kaplan. Both women had angered Time’s Up supporters at the idea that they had offered Cuomo any help, and Techen started Other Time’s Up leaders in the U.S. were discouraged from commenting publicly. Allegations by one of their accusers, Lindsay Boylan.) The group appeared to be politically partisan. The report cited members who felt Time’s Up had been damaged by ties to Democratic Party leaders (Chen was once Michelle Obama’s chief of staff). The organization was accused of not supporting Tara Reade, who accused now-president Joe Biden of assaulting her in the 1990s, a charge she vehemently denied. And Cuomo ties criticized that the group’s dealings with the governor smacks of political partisanship. Bandele said in interviews that the Cuomo episode would have landed differently if the group’s structure had been stronger. Where we are now, the Cuomo crisis was significant, Bandele said. But if the infrastructure inside was strong, if there was strong transparency in communications and processes, what happened to Cuomo is (less) likely. Even if it did, it would not have the same detrimental effect on the way people see the organization because we would have more trust within the community.
Now the question is how will the group rebuild that trust. All organizations make mistakes, Bandele argued. So we will also make mistakes. But this is not the nail in the coffin, this is not the end of us. The point is that we have to come back strong.
The group did not specify a timeline for its next steps. Judd said it would be worth the wait. What we’re about to reveal is an organization that has unity of purpose and will be inclusive, and will amplify the voices of women of all types, she said. We are so excited to be able to share this with the world.
As for myself, she said, I’m still here because I know how much society needs Time’s Up. The mandate is bigger and more important than our mistakes. And we will persevere and be of service. (AP).
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