3 Tweets That Prove What's Wrong With Lindsay Lohan's Controversial #MeToo Interview
@firstlookcinemaofficial / Instagram
Una Dabiero
Updated: 8/13/2018
I know I have moments where I wish it was 2000 again, so I could be enjoying the rambunctious times of Paris Hilton, the Parent Trap, and Purple Ketchup. But, you know, I think there's one person on Earth who really wishes it were 2000: Lindsay Lohan, especially after she made maybe one of the most controversial statements we've seen an actress make regarding #MeToo.
In an interview last week with The Times, Lohan shared that she believes some women share #MeToo stories for attention, and make themselves look weak in the process.
"You make it a real thing by making it a police report," she said. "I’m going to really hate myself for saying this, but I think by women speaking against these things, it makes them look weak when they are very strong women. You have these girls who come out, who don’t even know who they are, who do it for the attention. That is taking away from the fact that it happened."
The #MeToo movement, started by Tarana Burke, gained popularity on Twitter last year following the New York Times report on Harvey Weinstein. Many credit it with changing the narrative around workplace sexual harrassment, and the outing of several sexual predators in media and other industries.
#MeToo is overwhelmingly supported online. So, of course, the internet had things to say about Lohan's statement. People especially took issue with her blaming of victims for sharing their stories. Many labeled her discussion of #MeToo offensive, and harmful to the somewhat more safe discussion of sexual violence that #MeToo was beginning to foster.
Source: TwitterSource: TwitterSource: Twitter
Lohan issued an apology, saying "the quote solely related to my hope that a handful of false testimonies out of a tsunami of heroic voices do not serve to dilute the importance of the #MeToo movement, and all of us who champion it."
But I wonder if Lohan is familiar that less than 10% of sexual violence claims are false reports, that 1 in 4 women are sexually harrassed in the workplace, and that 75% percent of sexual harrassment victims are retaliated against for reporting it?
Whether stories of sexual harrassment are deemed "serious" by society or not, they deserve a place in the movement. Whether stories of sexual harrassment are told immediately after an incident or years after an incident, they deserve a place in the movement. And whether or not Lindsay Lohan deems stories fake or attention-seeking, they deserves a place in the movement.
But you know what there's not room for in the movement? A Mean Girl.