Sharon Stone’s Take On The #MeToo Movement Is Sure To Infuriate Hollywood Feminists

Sharon Stone doesn’t mince words. While she certainly supports the true victims involved in the #MeToo movement, she says we need to be careful about taking it too far and treating ALL men accused of sexual misconduct the same.

Like it or not, there are different levels of sexual misconduct. Asking an inappropriate question is not the same thing as rape.

“In every crime there are misdemeanors and felonies, and I think if someone’s committed a misdemeanor they can’t be treated like they’ve committed a felony. You can’t charge someone for murder when they’ve got a parking ticket,” she told the Daily Mail.

TRUTH.

Has she experienced harassment in Hollywood? Yes. However, she said she’s had different results, because she carries herself differently. (Translation: She speaks up.)

What kind of propositions did she face, and how did she extricate herself from difficult situations? ‘Well, I had an ability to talk, so that none of us had to leave as enemies. I’d say, “Where are you from? Was there a nice girl on the block where you came from? What was her name? Betty Smith? Well, the Betty Smith where you came from – I’m that Betty Smith”. And they’d say, “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry”, and I’d say, “That’s cool. But if you keep that in mind for the rest of our engagement, we’re going to be great friends. So, thanks for asking, but no thanks.” For people who behave outrageously, you just have to tell them they’re awful, but there are other people who are coarse and mean and violent and abusive and assaulting, and these people need to go to jail.’

Does she mean Harvey Weinstein?

‘I do. And I hope he goes to jail.’

Did she personally have any encounters with him? ‘Well,’ she says firmly, ‘that’s my business’ – the first of several occasions she uses this declamation pointedly.

I really love what she had to say about the celebrity females who find themselves in awkward situations. So many times, we forget that some of these women– not all, but SOME– were willing participants. Just ask the 23-year-old New York photographer who accused Aziz Ansari of sexual misconduct. Long story short, she went on a date with him, WILLINGLY engaged in sexual acts with him and later decided that he “misread her cues.” I repeat, she allowed him to perform sexual acts on her, and she reciprocated. What kind of signal did she think she was sending? OF COURSE he misread her cues. Yet, she’s crying victim? No.

Stone’s take is so common sense.

The day before we meet it emerges that Michael Douglas has become the subject of sexual misconduct allegations. In a bold move, Douglas pre-empted the accusation of a former female employee, Susan Braudy, who worked with him 30 years ago and claimed that Douglas masturbated in front of her, ‘used colourful language’ in her earshot and ‘blackballed’ her from getting another job in Hollywood after he fired her. Douglas refuted the allegations but added that if she had been offended by any colourful language he had used, ‘she could have excused herself’.

When asked about the allegations, Stone replies, ‘I don’t know anything about that,’ but adds: ‘We have two legs. You can leave a room. You can say “Stop it”. You have an opportunity not to participate. I understand that people are intimidated by powerful people, but what are we leveraging ourselves for? Leveraging yourself [for your career] and then being angry about it later – you have to ask yourself what you participated in. What did you want so badly that you were willing to stay through a humiliating experience?’

“You have an opportunity not to participate.”

Boom. That right there. You don’t have to stand there and watch a disgusting producer, director or actor pleasure himself. You don’t have to give them special massages.

She goes on to say: ‘Rape and assault are a different story, but you have two legs and you have a mouth. There are a lot of people in my career who didn’t like me, who said that I was a bitch. But because I didn’t do things I was asked to do…’

Exactly. Rape and assault– totally different. We’re not talking about those instances right now. We’re talking about the stories of dudes “making” female actresses watch them shower or whatever. Unless they were chained to the bathroom sink, they didn’t have to do that.

What was she asked to do?

‘That’s my business,’ she replies. ‘But perhaps I don’t have as many complaints,’ she adds, ‘because I was a f****** bitch.’

Stone offers a lot of unfiltered common sense here. Will Hollywood accept it? I doubt it. But in this climate, it’s certainly a breath of fresh air.

h/t Daily Mail