More than a week after Tina Tchen resigned from her posts of President and Chief Executive Officer of the Time’s Up organisation, other board members like producer Shonda Rhimes and actor Eva Longoria have also submitted their resignations.
Along with Rhimes and Longoria, other members like Jurnee Smollett, Katie McGrath, Christy Haubegger, Hilary Rosen, Michelle Kydd, and Nina Shaw have also resigned from their positions.
According to a report by Deadline, a statement issued by Time’s Up said, “TIME’S UP is ready for new leadership, and we want to move forcefully toward its new iteration. We have strong faith in the talent and dedication of our interim CEO Monifa Bandele as a leader. As has been announced, Monifa will be overseeing a comprehensive assessment of the organization, in collaboration with an outside consultant, and the input of our stakeholders: survivors and those who work for survivor justice and gender equity in the workplace and beyond.”
However, four existing members Colleen DeCourcy, Raffi Freedman-Gurspan, Ashley Judd, and Gabrielle Sulzberger have been asked to remain to ensure a smooth transition.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the high-profile resignations have come after an activist Alison Turkos organized an open letter calling out the board for failing to heed to survivors’ outcry. The letter was penned by sexual assault survivors, current and former Time’s Up Legal Defence Fund clients, and former Time’s Up staff.
“Instead of helping survivors remain at the center of our own stories, we find out in the press that you were consulted by abusers to aid them in victim-blaming and undermining our ability to come forward. This behavior harms all survivors,” the letter stated.
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Several activists and survivors questioned the integrity of the organisation after it was alleged that they remained complicit when Lindsey Boylan, a former aide to ex-New York governor Andrew Cuomo, accused him of sexual harassment.
Reacting to the resignations, Turkos said, “This announcement was made late on a Friday night, on a holiday weekend. It doesn’t feel like they are proudly stepping into a new direction… I look forward to learning more and to seeing this organization get back to its roots and mission, and always centering those most impacted in the work.”