Time’s Up Dissolves Advisory Board To ‘Shield’ A-Listers Like Reese Witherspoon And Natalie Portman, From ‘Unfair Scrutiny’

The implosion of Hollywood MeToo organization, Time’s Up continued this week as the group announced it had dissolved an advisory board that included A-list actresses Natalie Portman, Reese Witherspoon, and Jessica Chastain.

Time’s Up has suffered a series of blows since an investigation into the sexual harassment accusations against former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo revealed that two of the group’s leaders helped him draft a letter to discredit staffer Lindsay Boylan after she claimed he touched her inappropriately. The scandal erupted further when it came out that CEO Tina Tchen further instructed Time’s Up staffers not to issue public statements in support of Boylan.

Following the resignations of Tchen and chairwoman Roberta Kaplan, the three-year-old organization’s board of directors — including actresses Eva Longoria and Ashley Judd and producer Shonda Rhimes — collectively announced they were resigning. But their statement did not mention Cuomo or Time’s Up’s involvement with him.

That statement also did not address what would become of the 71-member advisory board that boasted some of the most famous names in Hollywood.

Beyond Witherspoon, Portman, and Chastain, Janelle Monae, Brie Larson, Tessa Thompson, Padma Lakshmi, Laura Dern, America Ferrera, Kerry Washington, Alyssa Milano, Amy Schumer and Julianne Moore were also sitting members.

As media coverage accusing Hollywood women of hypocrisy swirled, none of the actresses who had previously voiced passionate concern over sexual harassment in the entertainment industry directly addressed the controversy. On Sunday, the organization provided them an escape from this awkward situation.

According to Variety, Time’s Up co-founder Nina Shaw sent out an email on Sunday morning alerting all members of the advisory board (also known as the Global Leadership Board) that it was being disbanded.

“This is notice to you that effective immediately, Time’s Up has dissolved the Global Leadership Board,” Shaw said. “There is no need for your individual resignations, as the group no longer exists.”

Later that evening, she apologized in a second email for the “hasty communication,” and “abruptness” that caught many of the board members by surprise, but explained that it was part of an effort to spare them from public embarrassment.

“The goal behind a quick dissolution of the GLB was to shield all of you from unfair scrutiny,” Shaw said. “We didn’t think it was possible to have the meeting with the entire GLB ahead of the decision, but we also realize that much nuance was lost in the communication.”

An unnamed source told Variety that some of the stars have received pressure to step down, while others were worried about “having their names appear in unflattering stories about the organization.”

“I think it was an effort to shield people who put a lot of time and energy into the cause from unfair criticism. Ninety-nine point nine percent of the members of Time’s Up weren’t involved in the Cuomo scandal, especially the Hollywood contingent,” the source said.

Sharon Waxman, editor-in-chief of the influential trade publication, The Wrap, wrote in an op-ed, “With the resignation of virtually the entire Time’s Up board of directors…the idea that a group of powerful Hollywood women, united in their purpose to protect women from all walks of life from a pervasive culture of sexual predation, has died.”

At present, none of the A-list actresses involved with Time’s Up has condemned or addressed the group’s actions regarding Cuomo.

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