Channing Tatum is many things; an actor, dancer, husband, dad, feminist and male role model.
What he is not, is a guy who’ll condone the systematic sexism and sexual harassment in Hollywood by working with The Weinstein Company.
Channing Tatum just announced he’ll be stepping down from his directorial debut on Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock, as well as cutting all ties with The Weinstein Company.
Taking to Instagram, Channing wrote:
The brave women who had the courage to stand up and speak their truth about Harvey Weinstein are true heroes to us. They are lifting the heavy bricks to build the equitable world we all deserve to live in.
Our lone project in development with TWC – Matthew Quick’s brilliant book, Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock – is a story about a boy whose life was torn asunder by sexual abuse.
While we will no longer develop it or anything else that is the property of TWC, we are reminded of its powerful message of healing in the wake of tragedy. This is a giant opportunity for real change that we proudly commit ourselves to.
The truth is out – let’s finish what our incredible colleagues started and eliminate abuse from our creative culture once and for all. Chan and Reid.
GettyThe 37-year-old who’s married to Jenna Dewan, with whom he has a 4-year-old girl, Evelyn, has consistently been outspoken in the fight for equality both in his industry of work and wider society.
The joint statement, courtesy of Tatum and his production partner, Reid Carolin, is just the latest example of Hollywood’s awakening and the subsequent outpouring of support for those who have come forward and accused Harvey Weinstein of gross sexual misconduct.
Last week, Amazon Studios cut ties with the company, thereby ending a David O. Russell television project starring Robert DeNiro and Julianne Moore.
PADemocratic politicians like Hillary Clinton, Chuck Schumer, and Kristen Gillibrand have said they’ll donate campaign funds they received from Harvey Weinstein to charity.
Harvey Weinstein has been accused of many incidents of gross sexual misconduct – including harassment, sexual assault and rape – by over 50 women.
Many of these individuals are powerful women in the public eye, like Cara Delevingne, Rose McGowan, Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Blake Lively and Reese Witherspoon.
GettyNow, and only now, with safety in numbers, have these strong women felt able to talk about the abuse they suffered, showing just how insipid and poisonous the nature of sexual abuse can be, at the hands of powerful people.
In bravely telling their stories, these women have inspired others to come forward on social media, using the hashtag ‘Me Too‘, in a cathartic but horrific display of how widespread sexual abuse is in wider society too.
There’s also the deafening silence of those survivors who’ve been unable to come forward, due to their circumstances, which we would be remiss to forget.
Reminder that if a woman didn't post #MeToo, it doesn't mean she wasn't sexually assaulted or harassed. Survivors don't owe you their story.
— Alexis Benveniste (@apbenven) October 16, 2017
Meanwhile, Channing Tatum has just demonstrated perfectly how men and women in Hollywood, who’ve not been victimised by sexual abuse, can help battle the system that has allowed survivors to suffer in silence for so many decades.
For support and information, you can call the Freephone 24-hour National Domestic Violence Helpline, run in partnership between Refuge and Women’s Aid on 0808 2000 247.
You can also call the Men’s Advice Line (managed by Respect) on 0808 801 0327.
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.