Something very interesting has been happening in the last few months. It’s as if the planets have aligned, and the winds changed direction and all of a sudden, BOOM, all your favourite and most loved personalities within film, television, the media, and in Hollywood grew fangs and turned into deviant sexual predators. Or….. this kind of behaviour has always been going on, only now are people feeling brave enough to speak up, and finally, society is ready to listen. Sprouted from the roots of these vicious unveilings has spawned a movement (#MeToo) which has, in turn, caused a chaotic ripple effect displaying the prevalence of sexual assault within these popular media domains. To some extent, we can thank (or loathe) Harvey Weinstein for starting the trend of men being outed for their despicable behaviour, it’s such a shame some of the greats like Louis CK and Kevin Spacey had to follow in his footsteps.

So what do we do now? Can we forgive and forget? Can you love someone who has done deplorable things? We understand that this is not the first nor likely the last time we will be seeing a headline with another big celebrity name next to the words “sexual assault allegations”. But now that we have the information, it’s up to us to decide ultimately how we feel about sexual assault and the ramifications of this type of behaviour within a public and private domain. You, as a listener, viewer, reader, and consumer have the power to dictate these ramifications – so if we are going to do it the right way, here are the men we need to boycott if we want any chance of eradicating sexual assault.

Louis CK

Accused of: sexual misconduct toward 5 women, including indecent exposure.

Although rumours of his Louis CK‘s indecent behaviour had been circulating for a while, it wasn’t until 5 women came forward explaining how Louis had masturbated in front of them without permission, that the stand-up comedian with his own Netflix special confirmed these accusations were true, “These stories are true… The power I had over these women is that they admired me, and I wielded that power irresponsibly”. After this information was revealed, Louis CK‘s movie premiere ‘I Love You, Daddy’ was cancelled, CK pulled out of an appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert and HBO has cut ties with Louis, cancelling his appearance on Night Of Too Many Stars.

Kevin Spacey

Accused of: sexually assaulting multiple men, most notably actor Anthony Rapp who alleges Spacey climbed on top of him at a party when Rapp was just 14 and made sexual advances.

Spacey addressed the accusation by explaining that he did not remember the encounter, and then publicly came out as being a homosexual “I have loved and had romantic encounters with men throughout my life, and I choose now to live as a gay man“. The timing of Spacey‘s coming out has been described as inappropriate, as it arguably attempts to deflect attention away from the problem, and excuse his behaviour. Netflix has since announced tv show ‘House Of Cards‘ starring Kevin Spacey will be cancelled, and he has been fired from Ridley Scott‘s new film ‘All The Money In The World’ despite the film being in post-production.

Woody Allen

Accused of: sexually assaulting his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow when she was 7 years old.

Although both Dylan Farrow and Allen‘s ex-wife Mia Farrow have both confirmed the sexual assault did, in fact, take place, Allen denies the accusations and stated that “Dylan was used as a pawn for revenge” by Mia Farrow to get back at Allen. Since this information has come to light, Allen remains beloved by personalities within the industry, his fans, paid million by his collaborating partners, and is rarely asked questions about the accusations in the media.

Roman Polanski

Accused of: sexually assaulting including raping multiple women, the most well-known assault occurring in 1977 when a then 43-year-old Polanski raped 13-year-old Samantha Gailey. Polanski was indicted on 6 criminal counts including sodomy, sex with a minor, and rape by use of drugs.

Since then, other victims including actress Charlotte Lewis, and Marianna Barnard have come forward accusing Polanski of sexually assaulting them. Polanksi has been charged with assault against these women but has received little backlack from fans about these allegations. Polanski remains to be one of the most idolised directors/writers/actors in Hollywood.

Ed Westwick

Accused of: sexually assaulting 3 women and raping 2 of them.

These allegations came to light shortly after the Harvey Weinstein scandal, and all cases have eerily similar stories. The victims, Rachel Eck, Kristina Cohen, and Aurelie Wynn, described finding themselves at Westwick‘s house and being forced face down by Westwick with their clothes being ripped off. A police investigation into these charges is underway, and BBC has cancelled the drama ‘Ordeal By Innocence’ starring Westwick. Being one of the later developments, Westwick‘s career is up in the air and has received a lot of criticism. His ex ‘Gossip Girl’ co-stars even commented on the accusations, Jessica Szohr saying “I hope that it’s untrue, but I also feel bad for anyone that’s been in that situation, for the women that have to deal with that, for the situations that are true“.

Jeffrey Tambor

Accused of: sexually assaulting including forcibly kissing and groping 3 women.

Tambor has since explained that his actions were nothing more than an “enthusiastic farewell” to the cast of ‘Transparent’ but the women who came forward Tamara Delbridge, Trace Lysette, and Van Barnes, all describe his behaviour as calculated and intimidating. The actor has since quit the show ‘Transparent’ due to the conflict between co-workers on set, and Tambor has apologised saying “I am deeply sorry if any action of mine was misinterpreted by anyone as being sexually aggressive, or if I ever offended or hurt anyone“.

Casey Affleck

Accused of: sexually harassing 2 women on the set of his film ‘I’m Still Here’.

Casey Affleck has been accused of climbing into bed with one of the women on the film set while she was asleep and also forcibly grabbed one woman in an attempt to get her to stay in his hotel room during the filming of the movie. The two women filed charges against Affleck after the incidents occurred in 2010, and stirred uproar in Hollywood particularly after Affleck won a Golden Globe for his performance in ‘Manchester By The Sea‘ despite these accusations only surfacing shortly before the award ceremony. Affleck has commented on the ordeal by saying “There’s really nothing I can do about it other than live my life the way I know I live it and to speak to what my own values are and how I try to live by them all the time“.

Dustin Hoffman

Accused of: sexually harassing multiple women.

In 2017, two women came forward describing separate instances with Dustin Hoffman in which he was sexually harassing them in a predatory and intimidating manner. Producer Wendy Riss Gatsiounis and intern Anna Graham Hunter describe both being in an office space with Hoffman as he used sexually graphic and explicit language, and even grabbing the women on the ass. Hoffman has made a public apology, saying “I have the utmost respect for women and feel terrible that anything I might have done could have put her in an uncomfortable situation. I am sorry. It is not reflective of who I am.” 

These harassment accusations are nothing short of disgusting, embarrassing, and somehow completely unsurprising. The handful of men listed above is only a small portion of the names of men who stand alongside them. Other notable celebrities include actor Ben Affleck, Roy Price the head of Amazon studios, celebrity chef John Besh, journalist Mark Halperin, Lockhart Steele the director of VOX Media, actor Steven Seagal, Andy Dick from The Hollywood Reporter, actor Charlie Sheen, Hollywood director James Toback, screenwriter and director Mark Schwahn, singer R. Kelly, actor Richard Dreyfuss, and many many more. The revelation of this new information has seen 13 different films and TV shows get cancelled and have completely redefined the structure in which Hollywood and a lot of modern media places responsibility.

No, the repercussions to some of these peoples careers are not harsh, it’s completely necessary. And no, a basic apology on social media about their past actions in some cases just won’t cut it. We have evolved into a community and a society that is now so heavily accepting of gender equality and strongly advocates women’s rights. However sad we feel about finding out our heroes have behaved in extremely inappropriate ways, this is sprinkled with an element of pride that we are shifting toward a society that assists victims of sexual harassment rather than silencing them. Boycott this behaviour, boycott sexual harassment, and help move toward a future that eradicates inappropriate behaviour. Do it for the sake of our future generations.