TIME’s Person Of The Year Are The Silence Breakers
TIME magazine announced their annual Person of the Year, and whoever had their money on the #MeToo movement has reason to quietly celebrate (cheering wildly over your winnings will seem just a *tad* tacky given the circumstances). TIME’s People of the Year for 2017 are the “silence breakers,” or those who bravely told their shitty, awful stories of sexual harassment and assault.
On the cover is Ashley Judd, whose story helped to bring down Harvey Weinstein. Taylor Swift, for speaking out against the Denver DJ who groped her ass during a meet and greet and then proceeded to sue her after he got fired. Former engineer Susan Fowler who spoke out against the alleged repeat harassment she experienced while working at Uber. Strawberry picker Isabel Pascual, whose harasser began to stalk her at her home. Lobbyist Adama Iwu who organized 147 women to sign an open letter exposing harassment in California government after she was groped at an event in front of several colleagues.
If you’re anything like me, you looked at that cover and thought, okay, so where is the loudest silence breaker, aka Rose McGowan? Don’t worry, she was featured in the issue as well.
.@rosemcgowan on why now is the time for anger #TIMEPOY https://t.co/T91eyi1sIR pic.twitter.com/YOYqzd0sym
— TIME (@TIME) December 6, 2017
Joining her was Megyn Kelly, who helped expose Roger Ailes, Alyssa Milano, who got the ball rolling on the #MeToo hashtag, and Selma Blair, who spoke out against director James Toback (which seemed extra risky, considering – according to Selma – James threatened to have her eyes gouged out and her body dumped in the Hudson River if she ever said anything).
.@Alyssa_Milano and @SelmaBlair on raising boys #TIMEPOY pic.twitter.com/dPHip2yYQ5
— TIME (@TIME) December 6, 2017
Not to mention the several non-famous women – some anonymous – who TIME spoke to with various stories of coming forward and exposing the trash men in their lives.
There were also a few male silence breakers featured too. Terry Crews spoke out against WME agent Adam Venit allegedly groping his crotch at a party, and Blaise Godbe Lipman who spoke out about being allegedly assaulted at 17 by former APA agent Tyler Grasham.
As for who almost made the cover, here’s the list of TIME’s Person of the Year runners-up:
2. Donald Trump
3. Xi Jinping
4. Robert Mueller
5. Kim Jong Un
6. Colin Kaepernick
7. Patty Jenkins
In Donald Trump’s mind, he only came in second because he turned them down. I’m sure he’s singing “First is the worst, second is the best” to himself while skipping down the halls of the White House on his way to breakfast this morning. But it’s got to hurt losing the top spot to a list of people that includes one of his own many sexual assault accusers, Summer Zervos.
Pic: Billy & Hells/TIME