TIME'S UP
TIME'S UP is a non-profit organization in the United States that raises money to support alleged victims of sexual harassment. The organization was founded on January 1, 2018, by Hollywood celebrities in response to the Weinstein effect and the Me Too movement. As of January 2020, the organization had raised $24 million in donations.
Time's Up collaborated with the National Women's Law Center to create the Time's Up Legal Defense Fund (TULDF), which provides legal and media support to individuals who have been subject to workplace sex discrimination, such as sexual harassment. The Time's Up Foundation raises money for the TULDF.
As a movement focused on combatting sexual harassment in the workplace across many industries, the Time's Up movement has received external criticism from a variety of sources. These critiques largely focus on the hypocrisy of the movement and its spokespeople, as well as the general response of Hollywood elites. Many writers have criticized Hollywood for espousing the messages of the movement without making the necessary changes in the industry that the movement is calling for. During awards season, writers called out the industry for "leaning hardest on the very women it has exploited" in order to convert their critiques and testimonies into "inspirational messages and digestible branding exercises". Others criticize the movement for a lack of diversity in its spokespeople. The majority of Time's Up representatives are notably wealthy and of celebrity status. Many progressive commentators criticize the movement for its entrenchment in celebrity culture. They claim celebrities are not committed to the cause beyond their superficial involvement in the Time's Up organization and that these (mostly) women do not represent the interests of women in real communities.
As a movement intended to combat sexual harassment across many industries, critics fear that its focus on Hollywood detracts from other industries. As a counterpoint, many bring attention to the fact that the Movement allies itself with Alianza Nacional de Campesinas. Additionally, many cite that Time's Up draws inspiration from the #MeToo movement, a campaign started and organized by activists of color like Tarana Burke. Similar critiques came to light during the Golden Globes in January 2018, when many actresses and signatories of the movement dressed in black brought prominent activists as their dates; for example, Burke arrived with Michelle Williams, and Meryl Streep brought Ai-jen Poo, director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance as her date. Other activists in attendance included Rosa Clemente, Saru Jayaraman, Billie Jean King, Marai Larasi, Calina Lawrence, and Mónica Ramírez, co-founder of Alianza Nacional de Campesinas. Though many praised this choice as an opportunity to lend voices to prominent activists in the field, others heavily criticized these and other actresses for showcasing activists of color as moral accessories. In an interview with Variety, however, Burke herself commented that once she received an invitation from Michelle Williams to attend the awards, she thought this choice was "brilliant".
2020
In January 2020, Tara Reade, who a year prior accused Joe Biden of inappropriate touching, sought assistance from Time's Up with making public her claim of sexual assault by the former Vice President. In February she was informed by the organization that taking her case would threaten their tax-exempt status given that he was running for office.
In late March 2020, said she felt "betrayed" by Time's Up after the organization failed to inform her of their connections with the Biden campaign before she revealed to them the details of her allegation. She saw payments by the Biden campaign to Time's Up as "a way to silence her further from getting her story heard".
In January 2020, Oprah Winfrey, a founding donor, announced that she would be withdrawing as an executive producer of On The Record, a documentary about the accusers of Russell Simmons. Shortly afterward, Time's Up Now and Time's Up Legal Defense Fund (TULDF) were asked to sign a letter of support for the accusers; TULDF signed the letter, but Time's Up Now refused to. According to The Hollywood Reporter, many in the industry saw the organization's alignment with Winfrey as evidence of "an inherent conflict of interest — that the group is largely funded by Hollywood power brokers." This is a criticism that has been leveled at Time's Up Now since its inception in 2017.
Employees of Time's Up have criticized the organization for the portion of its funds spent on executive salaries. According to an April 2021 report from The Daily Beast, employees have criticized the organization's leadership for their "deference to powerful political allies."
2021
On August 9, 2021, Time's Up chairwoman Roberta Kaplan resigned from her role as chairwoman of the organization's board of directors, after an investigative report describing the allegations that then-New York Governor Andrew Cuomo had sexually harassed women said she was involved in an effort to discredit former Cuomo aide Lindsey Boylan, the first of numerous women to accuse Cuomo of sexual misconduct. An investigation by New York Attorney General Letitia James stated that Kaplan had reviewed an unpublished op-ed letter attacking one of the women who had alleged harassment by Cuomo. These allegations caused Time's Up CEO Tina Tchen to resign on August 26, 2021.
Later, on September 10, 2021, Time's Up dissolved its 71-member advisory board, which included several prominent actors, and announced that all of the governing board members would resign and be replaced over 30 days. Variety described the group as being "in freefall" ever since the release of the state Attorney General's investigation into Cuomo's alleged sexual misconduct and harassment.
In November 2021, interim president and CEO Monifa Bandele stood down and Time's Up said it would replace all its current staff at the start of 2022.
2022
In late 2022, the three board members were Ashley Judd, Nina Shaw, and financial executive Gabrielle Sulzberger.