Rose McGowan, centre, was one of the first to accuse Weinstein of rape but has blasted the all-black fashion protest as hypocritical and vapid. Photos / Getty Images
Rose McGowan, centre, was one of the first to accuse Weinstein of rape but has blasted the all-black fashion protest as hypocritical and vapid. Photos / Getty Images
People will tune in to the Golden Globe Awards today to see who will wear black for the planned anti-harassment protest on the red carpet.
The 75th annual awards show is scheduled to take place Sunday in Beverly Hills.
The gala will be held against the backdrop of a spate of sexual harassment scandals that have rocked Hollywood to the core since revelations about alleged crimes by movie giant Harvey Weinstein.
Actresses seeking to call attention to sexual harassment in the workplace are being encouraged to wear all-black as a form of silent protest.
While there may be sympathy with the overall message, it is unclear whether everyone will go along.
For one, the surge in demand for all-black outfits has apparently left Hollywood stylists scrambling to find enough dresses, according to the Telegraph.
There is also talk that not all actresses are on board with the all-black silent protest that was first started by Time's Up, the initiative to combat sexual harassment in the workplace.
"There's some backlash to the wear-black mandate," a well-embedded Hollywood source told PEOPLE.
"Some feel women should celebrate their newfound power, strong voices and the future by wearing a wide variety of brighter shades.
"Instead of distracting from the real issue with a mandate to wear one particular colour.
"There will be big important speeches, no doubt, and they will make a much better statement."
Robin Givhan, a fashion critic for The Washington Post, says there's something "regressive" about imposing a uniform dress code that "takes the fizz out of fashion."
"It smacks of sexism to say, even indirectly, that fashion - the quintessential realm of women - must be shunned in order for women to be taken seriously... mostly it reads like the proper response to sexual harassment is to change one's attire," she wrote.
"Understandably, there is a desire to expand the solidarity of the #MeToo movement, which made plain the breadth of the problem, to provide a visual image of women aligned and displaying their strength in numbers," she wrote.
"But why black? Why choose a kind of full-body uniform that drains women of their individuality and paints the issue at hand with a single, nuance-free stroke?"
Givhan came out in support of actress Rose McGowan, who was one of the first to accuse Weinstein of rape.
Last month, McGowan blasted the all-black fashion protest as hypocritical and vapid.
On Twitter, McGowan expressed anger at Meryl Streep.
Harvey Weinstein with actress Meryl Streep at the Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2012. Photo / Getty Images
"Actresses, like Meryl Streep, who happily worked for The Pig Monster," McGowan said, referring to Weinstein, "are wearing black @GoldenGlobes in a silent protest. YOUR SILENCE is THE problem."
McGowan - who was one of the first of 84 women to accuse Weinstein of sexual misconduct, claiming the producer raped her in 1997 - said that Streep and her contemporaries were putting on little more than a dog and pony show to adhere to the current trend in Tinseltown.
"You'll accept a fake award breathlessly & affect no real change," McGowan said, adding, "I despise your hypocrisy."
McGowan wrapped up by saying, "Maybe you should all wear Marchesa," in reference to the fashion line presided over by Weinstein's estranged wife Georgina Chapman, who McGowan has past implied was complicit to her husband's decades of alleged criminal behavior.
Weinstein's rep has said repeatedly that "any allegations of nonconsensual sex are unequivocally denied by the producer."
Streep responded to McGowan's criticism of her, saying: "I wasn't deliberately silent. I didn't know. I don't tacitly approve of rape. I didn't know. I don't like young women being assaulted. I didn't know this was happening."
Eva Longoria, the actress and one of the chief spokeswomen for the Time's Up initiative, defended the all-black dress code as a necessary show of female solidarity.
"This is a moment of solidarity, not a fashion moment," Longoria told The New York Times.
"For years, we've sold these awards shows as women, with our gowns and colors and our beautiful faces and our glamour.
"This time the industry can't expect us to go up and twirl around."
On Saturday, The Handmaid's Tale actress Elisabeth Moss posted a picture of herself wearing a black t-shirt with the words "Time's Up" emblazoned on it.
She wrote alongside the photo: "The clock has run out on sexual assault, harassment and inequality in the workplace. It's time to do something about it."
Among the actresses who have confirmed they will be wearing black at this Sunday's event are Gal Gadot, Saoirse Ronan, Mary J. Blige, Allison Janney, and Jessica Chastain.
It is not yet known which actresses will choose not to conform with the all-black fashion statement.
Yet there are already those who are calling on women not to criticise the actresses who decline to take part.
Andre Walker, Oprah Winfrey's hair stylist for over 30 years, said the #MeToo movement should show restraint.
"They have their own reasons," he said of the actresses who choose not to wear black on Sunday.
"There might be a backlash. I think if you show up in something really bright, they'll get a lot of attention.
