Be the Jessica Chastain You Want to See in the World

Following the outing of Harvey Weinstein as a top-level sexually assaulting creep monster, a lot of Hollywood’s top players–many of whom have Oscar magnet Weinstein to thank for at least some of their success–have remained silent. Some, like Meryl Streep and Judd Apatow, have spoken out, condemning him. But most have not. As of Monday night, only one of Hollywood’s 25 highest-earning stars has said anything. (Good job, Mark Ruffalo.)

But it’s Jessica Chastain who is setting the bar for celebrities’ responses.

She’s been retweeting a bunch of stories, including ones praising Rose McGowan–who is also being incredibly outspoken about Weinstein and the responsibility Hollywood’s powerful players bear moving forward–as well as this one criticizing Matt Damon and Russell Crowe for allegedly shutting down a Weinstein exposé back in 2004.

Teresa wrote earlier about how men in Hollywood need to step up and be real allies to the women in their industry. Holding these people accountable for sexual assault and abuses of power should not fall solely on women.

But Jessica Chastain has power here, as someone with some distance between herself and Weinstein, as well as someone with a good amount of clout. She has a number of films in development, including one in the X-Men franchise, which offers a large degree of professional protection. But she’s not the biggest star, and retweeting a negative article about powerful Hollywood players (maybe more powerful than Weinstein, who seems to be have been waning anyway) is most definitely a career risk.

Chastain has a history of refusing to hold back when criticizing industry sexism, abusive actors, and political attacks on women’s rights. (Though she has made mistakes, from which we hope she’s learning.)

So it’s not surprising, but still admirable, that she’s speaking out now.

She opened up about her own relationship with & knowledge of Weinstein.

But she also spent time in the replies, answering people’s often accusatory questions.

In response to someone who asked why she “let” Weinstein buy that movie.

She wasn’t even involved in this next conversation originally. She just wanted to add a voice to Team Anti-Abuser.

(image: Columbia Pictures)

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Vivian Kane

Vivian Kane (she/her) is the Senior News Editor at The Mary Sue, where she's been writing about politics and entertainment (and all the ways in which the two overlap) since the dark days of late 2016. Born in San Francisco and radicalized in Los Angeles, she now lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where she gets to put her MFA to use covering the local theatre scene. She is the co-owner of The Pitch, Kansas City’s alt news and culture magazine, alongside her husband, Brock Wilbur, with whom she also shares many cats.

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