IN THE WAKE of the recent Hollywood scandals, Charmed actresses Rose McGowan and Alyssa Milano have both been very vocal about sexual harassment and assault in the industry.
Yesterday, in an interview with ABC News show Nightlight, McGowan did not mince her words when it came to Charmed co-star Alyssa Milano. Nightline’s Juju Chang brought up Alyssa Milano’s recent activity, asking Rose McGowan if she was proud of the actress.
McGowan simply responded “I don’t like her.”
Chang asked McGowan to explain why she didn’t like Alyssa Milano, to which she replied “I think she’s a lie.” McGowan continued:
Do you think I don’t know these people? I’m not looking at this from the outside. I have a lot of experience. I know she’s married to a CAA agent. Do the math. Who’s behind ‘Time’s Up’? CAA. Where do they meet? CAA. Who needs good PR? CAA. Who are part of the pimp problem? CAA.
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McGowan later used Twitter to backtrack on this statement, writing “Yeah, I knew this would be the pull quote, but the lie is a system, not an individual.”
Regardless of McGowan’s backtracking, many people are quite suspicious that much of the participation in the Time’s Up campaign is quite performative, and there are receipts to prove that not everybody involved is willing to walk the walk.
Just after the Nightline interview aired, a video of McGowan speaking condescendingly to a trans woman at her book signing emerged.
In the past, McGowan has made several offensive comments about trans women, and an audience member wanted to confront her about them. When Ellen DeGeneres tweeted about laws in Mississippi that seriously affect queer and trans people, McGowan butted in to divert attention back to straight cisgender women:
By writing “Speak for women as well plz”, she totally disregarded the existence of lesbian, bisexual and trans women who are affected by Mississippi’s laws.
She also previously told Caitlyn Jenner that she has no understanding of what it is to be a woman. So one audience member, brought up the topic of transgender women and the inordinate amount of violence and sexual violence that they face.
The audience member began:
You said that that trans women are equal. We get raped more often. We go through domestic violence more often. A trans woman was killed her, a few blocks away. I’ve been followed home.
At this point, McGowan began to speak over the woman saying “So have I. So have I. We are the same. My point is that we are the same.” The audience member attempted to draw Rose’s attention to the fact that transgender women are forced to go to men’s prisons, and asked what Rose McGowan has done to help transgender women.
McGowan once again spoke over the young woman, shouting “Sit down. Sit down. Sit down. Enough. Get lost. Shut up, you’re so boring.”
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When the audience member criticised Rose McGowan’s “white cis feminism”, McGowan sat back and said “Don’t put your labels on me.” She then had the member removed from the audience, before being met by applause. McGowan’s refusal to engage with, or even just listen to the issues that transgender women face is slightly disturbing.
People were not impressed.
