Rose McGowan Makes Powerful First Speech Since Weinstein Rape Allegation: ‘Name It. Shame It. Call It Out.’
Zack Sharf
Rose McGowan kicked off the Women’s Convention in Detroit on Oct. 27 with a powerful opening speech in which she called on all women to rise up and “clean out.” The public appearance was McGowan’s first since accusing Harvey Weinstein of rape in a tweet posted October 12. The actress has used the social media platform to speak out against Weinstein in the wake of over 60 sexual harassment claims made against him.
“We are all Me Too’s,” McGowan said, referring to the hashtag that encourages women to share their own stories of harassment. “I have been silenced for 20 years. I have been slut shamed. I’ve been harassed. I’ve been maligned…We are one massive collective voice, that is what #RoseArmy is all about…no more will we be shunted to the side. No more will we be hurt. It’s time to rise. It’s time to be brave.”
“No more,” she said as the crowd cheered. “Name it. Shame it. Call it out. It’s time to clean house!”
McGowan had previously settled with Weinstein for $100,000 over a hotel incident at the Sundance Film Festival in 1997. The actress decided to break with her NDA to reveal Weinstein allegedly raped her. In the wake of the sexual harassment scandal, McGowan has started the #RoseArmy movement, a campaign that seeks to give women a safe space and a platform to talk about harassment issues.
You can read McGowan’s entire speech below:
Allies. Good Morning. Thank you Tarana Burke. Thank you to all of you fabulous, strong, powerful Me Too’s. Because we are all Me Too’s. Thank you to Tarana for giving us two words and a hashtag to help free us.
I have been silenced for 20 years. I have been slut-shamed. I have been harassed. I’ve been maligned. And you know what? I’m just like you. Because what happened to me behind the scenes, happens to all of us in this society. And that cannot stand, and it will not stand. We are free. We are strong. We are one massive collective voice. That is what RoseArmy is about. It’s about all of being roses in our own life. Not me, but the actual flower because we have thorns, and our thorns carry justice. And our thorns carry consequence.
No more will we be shunted to the side. No more will we be hurt. It’s time to be whole. It’s time to rise. It’s time to be brave. In the face of unspeakable actions, from one monster we look away to another. The head monster of all right now. And they are the same. And they must die. It is time. The paradigm must be subverted. It is time. We’ve been waiting a very long time for this to happen, but we don’t need to wait anymore because we’ve got this. We’ve got this. I know it!
My sisters, our allies, our brothers. We are no nation. We are no country. We belong to no flag. We are a planet of women and you will hear us roar.
I came to be a voice for all of us who have been told that we are nothing. For all us who have been looked down on. For all of us who have been grabbed by the motherfucking pussy.
No more. Name it. Shame it. Call it out. Join Me. Join all of us as we amplify each other’s voices and do what is right for us, for our sisters, and for this planet, Mother Earth.
There are so many women that inspire me on a daily basis. And if I can be one ounce of that at any moment in time for any of you, I send all of the strength that I have.
Hollywood may seem like it’s an isolated thing, but it is not. It is the messaging system for your mind. It is the mirror that you’re given to look in to. This is what you are as a woman. This is what you are as a man. This is what you are as a boy, girl, gay straight, transgender but it’s all told through 96% males in the Directors Guild of America. That statistic has not changed since 1946. So we are given one view, and I know the men behind behind that view — and they should not be in your mind and they should not be in mine.
It’s time to clean house.
I want to thank you for being here for giving me wings during this very difficult time. The triggering has been insane, the monster’s face everywhere. My nightmare, but I know I”m not alone because I’m just the same as the girl in the tiny town who was raped by the football squad, and they had full dominance and control over their little town newspaper. There really is no actual difference. It’s the same situation and that situation must end because it is not our shame. The Scarlett Letter is theirs. It is not ours. We are pure. We are strong. We are brave and we will fight.
Pussies grab back! Women grab back! We speak! We yell! We march! We are here! We will not go away!
My name is Rose McGowan and I am brave, and I am you.
Thank you.
