Jennifer Lawrence wants to do something about the sexual misconduct that's all too common in the entertainment industry. In a conversation with Oprah Winfrey for The Hollywood Reporter, Lawrence revealed that she wants to create a "commission" of women in Hollywood to combat harassment.
During the conversation, Winfrey brought up the incident Lawrence described at an Elle event in October. Lawrence was allegedly asked to stand in a "nude lineup," and a female producer asked her to diet — which was followed by a male producer saying she was "perfectly fuckable."
In response to Hollywood's so-called boys' club, Lawrence told Winfrey that she wants to form a "commission" of women in Hollywood who could support each other against abuse. Lawrence explained that for young stars who are new to the business, "there's really not a lot of options" — and abusive behavior is so prevalent that it's hard to know what to do. The commission she envisions would help put "rules in place," she explained, to stop abusive behavior.
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"How can there be rules in place where there are certain ways that you just cannot treat people? Or a commission, somebody that they can call? If every A-list actor decides to join this commission, we know everybody in the industry," Lawrence said to Winfrey. "I know every studio head in town. If I'm on this commission, and [if] I get an email about somebody being treated badly on a set, I can send an email. We have to all put our heads together and figure out how to not let this moment go, not just be like, 'Oh, well, that was crazy.' Something has to really get done."
If younger actors had access to the potential commission, it could help provide mentorships for those new to the industry. And it could help end the notion that harassment is standard in Hollywood — or in any other industry, for that matter.
Winfrey also brought up Lawrence's fight for equal pay in 2015. After the Sony hack revealed that she was paid less than her male costars in American Hustle, the actress wrote an essay about equal pay for Lenny Letter. Lawrence tied the sexual harassment conversation back to equal pay, and what men can do to be allies amidst all the reports of abuse.
"Men need more social awareness. But this comes down to equality, and until all women in every job are paid equally for the same amount of work, how are we ever going to be thought of as equals? As long as there is one group of humans that is overruling another one, there's going to be abuse, [and] why would we be thought of as equals?," Lawrence said to Winfrey. "My political passion has almost turned into an obsession. I mean, I don't think you ever do feel settled, [but] as soon as you feel settled with your home and your personal life, you're looking at the world and going, 'How in the hell do I fix this? What do we do?'"
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Lawrence's commission proposal sounds like a great way to break up the Hollywood boys' club — hopefully we'll see it come to fruition.
If you have experienced sexual violence and are in need of crisis support, please call the RAINN Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
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