Jessica Rowe on Golden Globes red carpet protest: ‘It’s dumb’

STUDIO 10 co-host Jessica Rowe isn’t a fan of a red carpet protest at today’s Golden Globes which will see actors wearing black to make a statement about sexual harassment.

JESSICA Rowe has described today’s red carpet protest at the Golden Globes as “dumb”.

Actors are wearing black outfits to the awards show to make a statement about the culture of sexual harassment that exists in Hollywood.

“It is wonderful that women are finding their voice, that we are speaking up, but to me it is dumb to wear black on the red carpet,” Rowe said on Studio 10 this morning.

“They’re still going to be wearing designer black, they’re going to still be looking gorgeous and wonderful. To me, it is tokenistic and it’s not a good way of sending the right message.”

Rowe suggested that stars should simply boycott the red carpet altogether, or at the very least, should wear colours such as red or purple which represent defiance.

Studio 10 co-host Joe Hildebrand also took issue with the red carpet blackout, describing it as “strange”.

Some of the highest profile women in Hollywood will wear black on the #GoldenGlobes red carpet in protest of the recent sexual harassment allegations that have rocked the entertainment industry. Do you think this will have a powerful impact? #Studio10 pic.twitter.com/GaMnOoxp6x

— Studio 10 (@Studio10au) January 7, 2018

“The last great Hollywood protest movement about the treatment of women was the Ask Her More Campaign which was saying ‘we don’t want to be defined by what we’re wearing on the red carpet, we want to be taken seriously as actresses’,” Hildebrand said.

“And then the very next social protest movement in Hollywood is one in which they’re defining themselves entirely by what they’re wearing on the red carpet.”

Rose McGowan isn’t a fan of the protest either. In a series of since-deleted tweets from December, the Charmed star criticised the plan to wear black and singled out Meryl Streep for being hypocritical.

“Actresses, like Meryl Streep, who happily worked for The Pig Monster, are wearing black Golden Globes in a silent protest,” she wrote on Twitter, referring to Harvey Weinstein as the Pig Monster.

“YOUR SILENCE is THE problem. You’ll accept a fake award breathlessly and affect no real change. I despise your hypocrisy. Maybe you should all wear Marchesa.”

Marchesa is a fashion line that was co-founded by Weinstein’s estranged wife Georgina Chapman.

In response, Streep told the Huffington Post that “it hurt to be attacked by Rose McGowan”.

“I wasn’t deliberately silent. I didn’t know. I don’t tacitly approve of rape. I didn’t know. I don’t like young women being assaulted. I didn’t know this was happening.”

Some of the women who wore black on the red carpet spoke to the New York Times about why they felt it was important.

Master of None star Lena Waithe said, “Black is imptnt (sic) because it it gives us the opportunity to show that we are all one.

“It’s not just about sexual harassment. It’s also about ending homophobia, racism. No one should have to suffer in the workplace for pursuing her dream.”

Scandal star Kerry Washington told the New York Times, “It’s not about wearing black”.

“The Globes were happening and we were doing all the organising and we could not be here and not address it. It’s not just a Hollywood issue. It’s a problem across the board,” she said.

The red carpet protest is part of the Time’s Up campaign which was launched a couple of weeks ago by a star-studded group of female figures.

Debra Messing arrives for the 75th Golden Globe Awards

According to the Time’s Up website, the initiative “addresses the systemic inequality and injustice in the workplace that have kept under-represented groups from reaching their full potential”.

“We partner with leading advocates for equality and safety to improve laws, employment agreements, and corporate policies; help change the face of corporate boardrooms and the C-suite; and enable more women and men to access our legal system to hold wrongdoers accountable.”

The Time’s Up campaign has already received more than $16 million in donations which will go towards a legal defence fund for women and men who have been harassed in their workplace.