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Shonda Rhimes, Eva Longoria, and Jurnee Smollett are among the big names who are now stepping down from the board of Time’s Up, a sexual harassment charity organization that powered the Me Too Movement at the height of Harvey Weinstein’s sexual assault case. Their swift departures come over a week after the advocacy group’s CEO Tina Tchen resigned for supporting former governor Andrew Cuomo amid his sexual harassment scandal, the New York Post reported.
“We see the current crisis within Time’s Up as an important opportunity for growth and change,” Tchen issued in a statement alongside Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund chairwoman Roberta Kaplan who also resigned.
“Time’s Up is ready for new leadership, and we want to move forcefully toward its new iteration.”
The New York Post notes that “Longoria and Rhimes, as well as Nina Shaw, Hilary Rosen, Katie McGrath, Christy Haubegger, Ana Navarro and Jurnee Smollett, are among those who will step down over the next month.”
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The organization was slammed with backlash by supporters who were upset over Kaplan’s defense of Cuomo as the attorney general discovered multiple reports from at least 11 women accusing the former governor of sexual harassment. Kaplan resigned after news surfaced that she was a part of efforts to discredit Cuomo’s first accuser, Lindsey Boylan.
Shortly after Cuomo’s resignation, Tchen also stepped down from her CEO position after text messages were discovered of the lawyer seemingly discouraging members of the organization from making public remarks about Boylan’s accusations. Tchen issued a statement following her departure.
“I am especially aware that my position at the helm of TIME’S up has become a painful and divisive focal point, where those very women and other activists who should be working together to fight for change are instead battling each other in harmful ways,” she said at the time.
