Kobe Bryant just won the Oscar for his short film Dear Basketball, but Twitter isn't celebrating. Tonight's Academy Awards is the first in a post-#MeToo world, and they just awarded a statue to someone who was accused of rape. In 2003, the former basketball player was arrested in Eagle, Colorado after a 19-year-old hotel employee said she was sexually assaulted. His accuser declined to testify in court, therefore criminal charges were dropped, but the civil case was eventually settled out of court. Hollywood says it wants to change, but this most recent move proves there's still a lot to learn.
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"Although I truly believe this encounter between us was consensual, I recognize now that she did not and does not view this incident the same way I did," Bryant said in a statement following the case, later saying "I now understand how she feels that she did not consent to this encounter."
Basically, Twitter is having none of it, and is here to school anyone who may have forgotten.
Hollywood: TIME'S UP
— Caroline Framke (@carolineframke) March 5, 2018
Also Hollywood: Congratulations to Oscar winner Kobe Bryant!!!
"Hollywood: TIME'S UP," tweeted entertainment writer Caroline Framke. "Also Hollywood: Congratulations to Oscar winner Kobe Bryant!!!"
Kobe Bryant winning an Oscar is proof #MeToo hasn’t even scratched the surface.
— Celia (@_celia_marie_) March 5, 2018
"Kobe Bryant winning an Oscar is proof #MeToo hasn’t even scratched the surface," wrote another viewer.
LOLOLOL WE GAVE AN OSCAR TO KOBE BRYANT IN THE YEAR OF #METOO.
— Bowen Yang (@bowenyang) March 5, 2018
"LOLOLOL WE GAVE AN OSCAR TO KOBE BRYANT IN THE YEAR OF #METOO," comedian Bowen Yang wrote.
KOBE BRYANT! OSCAR WINNER! RAPIST! ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!
— Zack Bornstein (@ZackBornstein) March 5, 2018
"KOBE BRYANT! OSCAR WINNER! RAPIST! ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!" tweeted writer Zack Bornstein.
Anyway, Kobe Bryant has an Oscar AND a sexual assault allegation.
— Anne T. Donahue (@annetdonahue) March 5, 2018
"Anyway, Kobe Bryant has an Oscar AND a sexual assault allegation," added writer Anne Donahue.
I am still so grossed out by all the media falling over themselves to kiss Kobe Bryant's ass. #oscars
— Melissa Silverstein (@melsil) March 5, 2018
"I am still so grossed out by all the media falling over themselves to kiss Kobe Bryant's ass," Women In Hollywood founder Melissa Silverstein posted.
And in case you were interested in his full statement:
Here's the statement Kobe Bryant's attorney read aloud in court: "After months of reviewing discovery, listening to her attorney, and even her testimony in person, I now understand how she feels that she did not consent to this encounter." https://t.co/1rFX8l5s05 pic.twitter.com/WoARZenwP7
— Marlow Stern (@MarlowNYC) March 5, 2018
Time's Up, but it's easy to wonder sometimes if anyone is listening. Bryant's statement essentially admits that the victim did not feel she consented, yet he was welcomed onto the stage where people had just stood to condemn the culture of Hollywood that allowed men who commit such violent acts to succeed. His acceptance was then followed by a whole Time's Up package. That, and many other things, ring hollow when Hollywood refuses to put its money where its mouth is.
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