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2008-2010 The #MeTwo Movement

The arrest of Jeffrey Epstein was initially viewed as surprising, if relatively quiet for a lot of people. Granted, ongoing preliminary investigations and onterviews meant there was plenty going on in the back, but nothing conclusive. Eventually, the entire matter crescendoed in mid-2009 and continued into 2010. Namely, regarding the people Epstein were connected too that were not either dead ends or inconclusive leads. And what was happen was an unraveling of a long web weaved by many very powerful individuals. Mostly men, but some women involved as well.

It all started with a few individuals that were connected with Epstein and that their names present warranted further investigations. These investigations led to cracks and the promises of secrecy and security began having people come out with their experienced. These individuals were Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey. The former was the most notorious as the secrets involving the immense allegations against him were coming out. The accusations have gone back as far as 1980 with Harvey Weinstein and even reports of settlements as back as 1990. With the growing investigations and people coming forward, it was like a snowball effect. This became accelerated with the accusations and investigations into Kevin Spacey regarding the numerous accusations of sexual assault, especially a same-sex one.

The fact that these were men in the entertainment industry did not go unnoticed. Women in the industry began going out and encouraging more and more people to come out with their stories, claiming they will not be silenced and encouraging for them to come out and share their stories. Naturally, this came to escalate as several figures were accused and investigations were warranted.

Of course, while in a few cases, there was enough evidence to warrant arrests or charges, others were into settlements or lawsuits. Others were dismissed from not enough evidence or were not pursued. Commentators noted the struggling economy may have raised frustrations in the process of investigators while a few conspiracists claimed all of it was done to get money, something that would earn scorn.

However, it was still shocking to hear of many big names that would end up falling from such accusations though others were not as surprising. Les Moones, Kevin Spacey, R. Kelly, Tom Brokaw, Joel Kramer, Louis C.K., Roy Moore, Brett Ratner, Steven Seagal, Oliver Stone, and most shockingly of all, Bill Cosby. For many, it seemed to expose the dangers and menace in it. Companies and organizations began doing whatever to try and do damage control over the growing movement of listening to women. Some of this included mandatory “sensitivity training” classes while others including counseling.

Not even animation was safe from this. Chris Savino would end up become accused by several of his colleagues and end up black listed from the industry. The infamous John Kricfalusi would be charged for several incidents and forced to leave. Vic Mignogna, who had a history of rumors and shady details, would be let go from current and future projects, delaying several of them, such as Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Despite attempts at lawsuits as Funimation and his accusers, said lawsuits would be dismissed and Mignogna dropped other attempts at charges from new legal advice. Others meanwhile, were more asked to step down and let go while the entire ordeal was being investigated, such as John Lasseter stepping down from Pixar.

Reactions were complicated since while they were given plenty of attention and scandal, they ended becoming background noise in the face of the worsening economy. For some, it did serve as an additional irritation or problem as they felt some of their outlets from the economic stress were now tainted with controversy though others coped with new outlets. The rise of prominence of Internet entertainment became a draw for people. Independent reporters on it and new shows drew in bigger crowds. Additionally, the #MeTwo movement, born on MySpace, was able to circulate through Project MAY-O (with OpenFilm agreeing to join as a fourth party) and set several ground rules and promoting a safe work environment, with videos being promoted on the importance of professional courtesy, treating people equally and respecting personal space. Initial concerns of this affecting content did spread, it died down. As one noted, “making racy, profane or provocative content does not necessarily make a person an @$$hole.”

The silver lining was that people turned to alternate sources of entertainment and gave attention to what could’ve otherwise gone ignored. Indiegogo and Kickstarter would see a spike in projects being invested in for entertainment outside of what was viewed as an “elite sphere”. The rampant details and convictions forced the growing Internet culture to face the problems of misogyny and disrespect that ran through it.

While the entire controversy unearthed plenty of nastiness, life went on. There was some minor hope for improvement, but the Damocles sword of the failing economy overshadowed it. However, some noted in retrospect that this was beneficial in the long run for the movement. The emphasis on the economy meant that the potential for backlash was crippled by the more immediate concerns of economic troubles, lost income and other issues. This allowed the processing to go on relatively smoothly and was able to take advantage of the growing frustrations at the “economic elite” and how the wealthy and powerful often get away with it. Given how several businessman were investigated as well, it was satisfactory enough.

No one predicted arresting one man in 2008 would have this affect, but it certainly opened a Pandora's Box and forced plenty of people to confront the consequences of their actions.