Sexual assault in the workplace is something that is hard to ignore these days, with headlines including big names like Gwyneth Paltrow and Bill Cosby that are sure to turn heads. Thanks to the press’ role in covering these shocking stories, an audience can become educated on the serious concern of sexual harassment and assault, while possibly giving others the courage to speak out on their own experiences.
In the entertainment industry, there have been several cases of sexual harassment, assault, and abuse. There have been serious cases that have gone to court and have gotten national attention. The media and press have played an important role in these cases, giving victims a platform and informing the public.
Terra Kushner, the vice president of human resources at Warner Records in Los Angeles, said that their company is committed to providing a safe, positive, and productive work environment. As more people in the industry have publicly come forward it has become obvious that sexual assault is a serious problem in the workplace. Kushner said the company has “reassessed and will continue to reassess our internal code of conduct, reporting procedures, and preventive training programs.”
“We create the environment for our people to feel safe to report it to their manager, a business unit head, someone in HR or Legal or use the WMG Compliance Hotline,” said Kushner. “We treat all allegations very seriously, investigate them discreetly and fairly, and examine claims without fear or favor. Harassment of any kind has no place at Warner Music Group.”
Many companies take sexual assault issues very seriously and have no tolerance for it in their place of work. However, some cases are not always that simple. Numerous allegations were made against beloved comedian Bill Cosby, in one of the most high-profile sexual assault trials in years.
Cosby had been accused of sexual assault several times throughout his career, but it was always swept under the rug and somehow forgotten about over time, until 2005 when allegations resurfaced and were first made public.
Andrea Constand, Temple University women’s basketball administrator, reported to police that Cosby had assaulted her a year earlier, after inviting her to his house one night after dinner. Constand said the comedian gave her pills for stress and tension, then helped her to a sofa when she became dizzy and sick. When Andrea woke up her clothes were in disarray, and she drove herself home. Afraid to report the situation right away due to Cosby’s fame and her position at Temple, Constand decided instead to contact a lawyer.
“In July 2015, a judge released court documents revealing that Cosby admitted in 2005 that he got Quaaludes, a hypnotic sedative used recreationally as a party drug, with the intent of giving them to young women he wanted to have sex with,” reported the Los Angeles Times. “In the court documents, he said he had given Constand three half-pills of Benadryl but did not admit to giving her Quaaludes.”
In 2008, model Chloe Goins met with Los Angeles police to report her case against Cosby, which sounded very similar to Andrea Constand’s. Goins claimed that Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her at the Playboy Mansion in 2008. However, this case was the first to fall within the statute of limitations, a rule that later caused problems with allegations against Cosby.
The statute of limitations, a statute stating the period of limitation for the bringing of certain kinds of legal action, is different for every state. This brings up ethical issues in some state’s legal systems. There should not be a statute of limitation on a case where someone has been physically or emotionally abused in the past and are still affected by the trauma.
Much of the case was taken care of in California, where the statute of limitation is ten years, however, the California Governor dropped the statute of limitation for rape in 2016 due to the Cosby allegations.
In October of 2014, comedian Hannibal Buress performed a stand-up routine that went viral, renewing once again the allegations against Cosby. Buress started off by stating his strong hatred towards Cosby. Buress continued, “He gets on TV: …I was on TV in the '80s. I can talk down to you because I had a successful sitcom.' Yeah, but you rape women, Bill Cosby, so turn the crazy down a couple notches. ... I guess I want to just at least make it weird for you to watch 'Cosby Show' reruns.”
Hannibal Buress was a media personal who really made a difference in this case. It’s not only journalists who want to get out and tell the truth to the public- it’s a lot of celebrities as well who have the platform to share their opinions and talk about issues in today’s society. Of course, not all celebrities speak out in a positive way, but Buress did, and the result was incredible.
Within weeks, both Netflix and NBC had tossed projects involving Cosby, “The Cosby Show” was pulled from TV Land, and his stand-up performances were canceled. A flood of new allegations began to pour in.
In an interview the Associated Press held with Cosby, the comedian was asked to speak on the sexual assault allegations that were being made against him. The interviewer says, “I have to ask about your name coming up in the news recently…” the interviewer was then cut off by Cosby who quickly responded, “We don’t answer that.” The interviewer continues to push Cosby, telling him he wants to give him the chance to respond and say whether or not the claims were true. Cosby cuts in with, “There is no comment about that,” and remains silent.
At the end of the interview Cosby asked his AP interviewer, “Can I get something from you?” Cosby then requested that this part of the interview not be shown or released.
The interviewer did the ethical thing as a reporter by trying to get both sides of the story. As someone who’s face had been in the news for some time as being part of a huge sexual assault case, the interviewer would have done his job poorly if he did not ask Cosby to comment on the recent issues. Whether Cosby chose to respond or not was completely on him, but as a journalist simply asking the question let the listeners know that there is no bias, and that the Associated Press did try to get some kind of word out of the alleged long-time celebrity.
Out of 13 accusers, a Pennsylvania judge ruled that only one would be allowed to testify against him. After Andrea Constand, the Temple employee, testified, jurors told Judge Steven T. O’Neill they were deadlocked and could not reach a verdict. A mistrial was declared.
Ethical issues can be seen throughout this case. With all of the women who came out to tell their stories, all of a similar plot stating that they were drugged and raped, there should not have only been one woman allow to testify. The statute of limitations should have never been questioned, and the jury should have been able to come to a conclusion.
Another case that went on for some time and was big in the press was the Kesha v. Dr. Luke case.
Pop star Kesha filed a civil suit against her music producer, claiming that Dr. Luke sexually, physically, verbally, and emotionally abused her since the start of her career. The singer claimed that she was drugged and raped on several occasions, called derogatory names and was threatened by Luke periodically. Dr. Luke denied all allegations and claimed that Kesha was lying to get out of her recording contract.
This was an ongoing case that was of interest to the public, as it had to do with a celebrity coming out with a story of sexual assault. The press seemed to make this a bit of a priority at the time when the trial was being held.
“I think the press was helpful [in covering the case] for me to get a base line understanding of what was happening in the trial,” said Kesha fan and prospective music-industry-employee Lucy Schouwheiler. “If there hadn’t been any coverage, in all honesty, I’m not sure I would have known about the ongoing case.”
Kesha was not released from her recording contract, partially due to the fact that Sony, the label that Kesha is signed to, claimed to allow her to continue recording without Dr. Luke’s involvement. Kesha then claimed that Sony wouldn’t promote any recordings she would make without the producer’s involvement, and says the label is “setting her up to fail.”
In April of 2016, New York Judge Shirley Kornreich, who is married to Ed Kornreich, a partner in Sony’s legal firm, dismissed Kesha’s claims of sexual assault, sexual harassment, and gender violence.
Another ethical issue comes up out of this. Judge Shirley Kornreich should not have been the judge to handle this case. The trial could be argued as an unfair trial because the judge might not have been impartial due to her husband’s position.
Although Kesha signed a contract with Dr. Luke, sexual assault and the abuse that Kesha accused her producer of should overrule her agreement with the producer that was made back in 2005, when the singer was 18.
“Women historically are never believed when they come forward about being sexually assaulted,” said Schouwheiler. “Kesha was willing to put her career on the line and relive a horrible experience during trial, and I don’t quite understand how that wasn’t compelling and relevant information. Ideally, sexual assault shouldn’t have to override anything legally, because there should just be more specific laws about sexual assault.”
In July of 2017, Kesha released her first single in four years, “Praying.” In an essay for Lena Dunham’s newsletter, Kesha said, “This song is about me finding peace in the fact that I can't control everything — because trying to control everyone was killing me. It's about learning to let go and realize that the universe is in control of my fate, not me."
The song was performed by Kesha, accompanied by several other celebrities singing back up, at the 2018 Grammy Awards. The performance was visibly emotional for Kesha and many audience members.
Headlines the following day read things like, “Kesha’s ‘Praying’ Is the Nights Most Powerful Performance,” and “Kesha Just Tore Down the House With ‘Praying’ on the Grammys.” It was a performance that made news everywhere in the following days, bringing light to the Kesha v. Dr. Luke case.
Kushner said she believes that people are more open to come forward due to the recent media attention that has been given to these topics. “It takes real courage for people to speak out. Music is a force for good in the world and the business behind it must be a force for good too.”
Schouwheiler said she is disappointed that so many sexual assault cases have come up in this industry. “I’m glad that people are coming together combat this problem,” said Shoewhiler. “These cases haven’t impacted my decision to enter the industry. If anything, I’m fired up to enter the industry so I can help create change.”
The latest sexual assault accusations the made big news involve former film producer Harvey Weinstein. Several women came forward in a New York Times article, telling about their experience with Weinstein. Weinstein’s lawyer told the Hollywood Reporter that they were preparing to sue the New York Times.
Many people who feel their image has been hurt by articles shining a negative light on them have tried to sue or have articles pulled, but when there is a strong enough case to argue that the information is true, the subject of the article often does not have a valid case.
Approximately 20 victims came out to talk about being assaulted by Weinstein. It was around this time the public began to hear about the #MeToo movement.
The ‘Me Too.’ movement was founded in 2006 to help survivors of sexual violence open up about their experience, assure them that they are not alone, and help them heal. “Our vision from the beginning,” according to the Me Too movement website, “was to address both the dearth in resources for survivors or sexual violence and to build and community of advocates driven by survivors, who will be at the forefront for creating solutions to interrupt sexual violence in their communities.”
The movement went viral in 2017 and became a big focus for the Oscar Awards. Many journalists covering the event honed in on the women wearing black along with their “Me Too” pins to show their support for anyone who has gone through this kind of traumatic experiences.
NBC, CNN, and several other large broadcasting and news companies covered the event with titles relating to the #MeToo movement, spreading the word on what the movement supported and what celebrities at the awards had to say about it.
Ringling College of Art and Design senior film student Jack Patterson said that he remembers watching the Oscars along with several classmates and discussing the women wearing black and the journalists choosing to work questions about the movement into their red-carpet interviews. “I loved it,” said Patterson, “But I have some best friends who just can’t man up and say yes, I’m privileged, and appreciate this kind of step in the right direction in support against sexual assault in the industry, or any kind of oppression.”
Patterson just finished a job on a feature-film set in Tampa, Florida, where he says the women were very obviously outnumbered. “The two directors were male; the first assistant director was male. I think things are changing, though.” said Patterson. Out of five senior thesis films chosen by the school to produce, Patterson said that there are more women in leading roles. “Women are just great leaders and it’s nice to see more of them getting recognized in the industry.”
Sexual assault is not only an issue in the entertainment industry, but it’s these issues and cases specifically that get covered by the press.
“I think there are definitely sexual assault issues in every industry, but the entertainment industry has the big names like Gwyneth Paltrow and Harvey Weinstein,” continued Patterson. “I think the media is covering it well. Putting a spotlight on these big names gets people to listen. You can’t avoid this kind of news, but in a good way. It doesn’t feel like the press is bashing. I was never annoyed at the media’s coverage of these cases. I was annoyed at the successful men using their platform to rape women.”
The press has played a huge role in making the issue of sexual assault known to the public. It has helped encourage victims to tell their story, as well as inform the public on these problems that have been tolerated for way too long.
Kushner of Warner Records said that although there is no quick fix to these big issues, HR representatives, as well as the general public, will continue to listen and learn from these cases.
“If the disturbing news stories from the last year have taught us anything, it’s that there is a need for lasting change at our company, in our industry, and in our society at large,” said Kushner. “We can always do better.”
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Puente, Maria, and Cara Kelly. “How Common Is Sexual Misconduct in Hollywood?” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 23 Feb. 2018, www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2018/02/20/how-common-sexual-misconduct- hollywood/1083964001/.
Schouwheiler, Lucy. Personal Interview. 21 June 2018.
Video, Telegraph. “Bill Cosby Refuses to Answer Sex Assault Questions in Awkward 2014 Interview.” The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 27 Apr. 2018, www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/04/27/bill-cosby-refuses-answer-sex-assault-questions- awkward-2014/.
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