Award-winning actress Reese Witherspoon has admitted that she feels a responsibility to stand up for ''voiceless'' women.
Reese Witherspoon feels a responsibility to stand up for ''voiceless'' women around the world.
The Academy Award-winning actress has been one of the most influential figures behind the Time's Up campaign, which fights against sexual harassment, and Reese feels as though she has a duty to support women who are less privileged than herself.
Asking whether she expects to see major changes in light of the Hollywood sex scandal, Reese - who previously admitted to being assaulted by a director when she was 16 - said: ''I feel a shift, completely, a reckoning of people who have been silent for so long finally coming forward and speaking out even if their voice shakes, as I know mine did when I told my story.
''The female leaders within every industry have to stand up for those who are voiceless and silent, and we have to do better to create more balanced cultures with female leadership and leadership with people of colour. It's just profoundly overdue.''
Reese, 41, also revealed that she wasn't remotely surprised by the extent of the sex scandal, saying that many of her friends have previously told her similarly distressing stories in private.
She told the March issue of America's Marie Claire magazine: ''Sadly, I don't find any of this shocking. Women have been sharing stories in each other's living rooms and workplaces for as long as I've been a working woman. It's just incredible that the media and the world started believing us all and listening.
''I was particularly moved by the women at Ford Motor Company who came forward and told their stories of harassment and abuse, and by the women in my own industry who told their stories so bravely when they had nothing to gain.''
Asked why so many victims remained silent for so long, Reese explained: ''The majority of women - if they came forward - were stigmatised for reporting and in some cases lost their jobs. There was simply no reason to share your story if the results would be so punitive.
''That's why I've been working very hard on an initiative called Time's Up with more than 400 women in my industry to raise money for women to have better resources for on-the-job-harassment lawsuits in their own industries.
''We are trying to level the playing field for all women and men who have suffered from discrimination, harassment, and abuse.''
With the 61st Grammy Awards fast approaching, we have revised the long list of nominees once again and think we've made up our mind about who will be...
After a 21-year gap between albums and a full 19-year break as a band, Sleeper seem at last to be back in earnest.
Jay McAllister - otherwise known as Beans On Toast - brings his raucous road show to Kent's infamous seaside town.
Having announced her debut album 'When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?', Billie Eilish unveils a sinister video for her new single 'Bury a...
Imagine Dragons have now unveiled the official video for their single 'Bad Liar', following their recent animated lyric video.
Brit Award-nominated Tom Walker unveils the video for his newest single 'Just You and I' taken from his debut studio album 'What a Time To Be Alive'.
Stalker Miller have seen a will and determination come to fruition with the release of their debut album 'Homegrown By Joan'.
Reese Witherspoon is so likeable that she can carry even the most hackneyed of romantic...
Time is an extraordinarily complicated thing which does not always behave in the way you...
Alice (Reese Witherspoon) is a 40-year-old single mother of two young daughters living in Los...
The quality of the animation in this musical comedy may not be up to Pixar...
Buster Moon is one of the good guys, he's a koala who's lived his life...
US intelligence services have been following the exploits of a Mexican drug Cartel lieutenant for...
Like the Thomas Pynchon novel it's based on, this film remains infuriatingly evasive as its...
Reese Witherspoon gives a beautifully stripped-back performance in this epic journey based on the memoir...
Larry "Doc" Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix) is a simple man. When he's not abusing illicit substances,...
The cast and crew of forthcoming drama biopic 'Wild' talk about Jean-Marc Vallée's direction and...
Those who have read the blockbuster novel may be disappointed to know that author Gillian...
Doc Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix) is a private investigator living in Los Angeles during the tail...
When young Cheryl Strayed loses her beloved mother, her entire world seems to come crashing...