Friday, March 29, 2024

Anita Hill Wants Anti-Sexual Harassment Policies with More ‘Teeth’ (Watch)

Anita Hill
Anita Hill

*Attorney and law professor Anita Hill, a catalyst in raising public awareness of sexual harassment nearly 30 years ago, is calling on stronger policies in the wake of allegations of sexual misconduct that have toppled a growing roster of powerful men in Hollywood in recent weeks.

Hill on Tuesday participated in a keynote conversation moderated by Chelsea Handler at Variety‘s Inclusion Summit.

The event comes just a month after the New York Times and New Yorker first published their bombshell reports exposing decades of sexual misbehavior by studio mogul Harvey Weinstein.

In the weeks since, a litany of men — directors, showrunners, studio executives, talent agents, and others — have faced allegations of behaving inappropriately. Across the entertainment industry, a movement is taking shape as Hollywood struggles with ways to deal with the climate for vulnerable men and women.

“We are making change,” Hill said. “It’s not instant and there won’t be one tipping point, there will be many,” adding that nonetheless this movement “is monumental.”

Addressing a roomful of Hollywood decision makers, Hill called for the implementation of policies and procedures with teeth. Complaints, Hill said, shouldn’t fall into a black hole and left to languish. “If you have any kind of status that allows you to make change, use it,” she said.

She chastised corporate payouts to accused sexual harassers, notably Fox News founder Roger Ailes, who received $40 million in severance pay.

“When you have this kind of evidence — and it sounds even silly to say — a huge payoff is not appropriate,” Hill said. “These are not only bad ethical and legal decisions — they’re bad business decisions.”

Watch a clip from Hill’s talk below:

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