Susan Sarandon is still waiting to see Hollywood improve its working conditions for women. The actress said on Sunday that she doesn’t feel the industry is yet to reckon with the #MeToo movement’s revelations surrounding Harvey Weinstein.
“I don’t think we’ve done the cleanup afterwards that we should be doing,” Sarandon said during a ’90s Con panel. She clarified, “I don’t think people talk enough about the people who facilitated the Harvey Weinsteins of the world that are still functioning that are equally responsible.”
Her comments came in response to Mira Sorvino saying Weinstein had “stifled” her career following her 1996 Oscar for best supporting actress. “I stopped being a viable movie actress,” Sorvino said.
Weinstein, co-founder of Miramax, was at the heart of the 2017 #MeToo movement and is currently serving multiple jail sentences for rape and sexual assault.
Sarandon went on to refer to people still working in Hollywood who “knew when they were sending people to a hotel, who didn’t pay attention when someone complained, and reflected on the ways in which female sexuality has remained “a mainstay of this business” since she began her career in the 1970s.
“It’s very confusing to be, you know, a young girl and know that they’re checking on your viability according to how sexy you are,” she said. “You know that right? You do know that there’s something going on. They call it a chemistry thing or whatever they want to call it. But that is part of what you’re bringing to the table. Whether you like that or not, that exists.”
