As the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke last fall, Hollywood was swift to react. The powerful producer was kicked out of pretty much every prominent guild and group you could think of, while movies and television shows stripped his name from any production with his imprint. Most significantly, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) voted to expel Weinstein from the organization. About two weeks later, Academy CEO Dawn Hudson promised that AMPAS was “taking steps to establish a code of conduct for our members, which will include a policy for evaluating alleged violations and determining if action regarding membership is warranted.” That was over two months ago, and questions are being raised about whether or not the Academy is actually ready or willing to deal with the issue, particularly as #MeToo and #TimesUp continues to charge forward.
The New York Post reveals there is some discontent in the ranks of AMPAS over the organization’s muddled messaging and the uncertainty with exactly how they are truly going to implement the changes they’ve announced. Essentially, kicking out Harvey Weinstein has set a precedent, but it’s unclear what exactly that means going forward.
“Harvey opened the floodgates,” a male Academy member said. “Now the Academy’s drowning in a tide of s—t. They don’t know what hit them.”
“… they didn’t give themselves time to plot out how to deal with this going forward,” a female AMPAS member elaborated. “Kathleen Kennedy [producer of the ‘Star Wars’ series] and some other female governors panicked and felt compelled to act. They thought [Weinstein] could hurt AMPAS’ cred. Some of them did admit this was a slippery slope. But I don’t think they imagined how slippery. It’s definitely caused some problems and fights among the board members.”
Indeed, no one else has been sanctioned by AMPAS following Weinstein. Bill Cosby, Roman Polanski, and Brett Ratner remain Academy members, while a petition by filmmaker Cameron Bossert has been submitted asking the Academy to prevent Casey Affleck from presenting the Best Actress award at the Oscars this year.
Essentially, nobody seems to know when or how the Academy is going to deal with allegations against other members in their ranks, and it has left some feeling cynical. “… right now, it’s easier to get someone an Academy Award than to get them expelled from the Academy,” a female AMPAS member said.
Last night, the Golden Globes saw the industry bringing the #MeToo and #TimesUp movement right in from of cameras broadcasting around the world. There are still a couple of more months to go until the Oscars, but that kind of activism may ring a bit less sincere if the Academy continues to stay quiet about what kind of role they are going to play in reshaping the industry.