When Woody Allen was first asked about sexual-assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein, the director cautioned us all against a “witch hunt atmosphere.†Bring it on, says Olivia Munn in a first-person essay for Entertainment Weekly. “The possibility of an overcorrection is much less worrisome than all of the injustices that led us to this moment,†Munn wrote Thursday. Her own experience with director and producer Brett Ratner — Munn was one of six woman who accused Ratner of sexual misconduct — has only strengthened her belief that Hollywood has a culture of abuse that shames women for coming forward, and gives abusers a free pass. “When people ask how these men in powerful positions were able to hurt so many people for so many years, I look to the people at the top and ask those questions,†Munn wrote. “The system that lets men like Ratner and Allen back in, is the same system that creates disparity. It’s tilted to roll back into their favor while the rest of us are saddled with a Sisyphean task.†Instead, Munn, suggests, we should have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to abuse, and teach men not to abuse their power.
What’s more, according to Munn, ending sexual abuse and harassment in Hollywood and beyond is not just a job for the ladies. “This is not a ‘women’s’ issue, this is an abuse-of-power issue … and until we eradicate the diseased roots of our infrastructure and make foundational, systemic changes, nothing will change.†Fellas, Olivia Munn has put you on notice.