Survivor Stories

In the wake of women speaking out about assault, Emmy-winning director and producer Heather Ross revealed that she was sexually assaulted by an unnamed Oscar-winning producer (not Harvey Weinstein). When she confided in her good friend Carrie Fisher what happened to her, here's what Carrie Fisher did, as reprinted by E! News:

"About two weeks later, she sent me a message online and she said, 'I just saw [blank] at Sony Studios.' I knew he would probably be there, so I went to his office and personally delivered a Tiffany box wrapped with a white bow. I asked her what was inside and she said, ‘It was a cow tongue from Jerry's Famous Deli in Westwood with a note that said, ‘If you ever touch my darling Heather or any other woman again, the next delivery will be something of yours in a much smaller box!' It felt validating to know, 'Okay, first of all, this woman who I love as a friend was not just a fake Hollywood friend.' That's who she was. She spoke out and she put things out there in your face."

Actress Laura Dern appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres Show on Wednesday, where she stated that hearing all of the women speak out at the Elle Women in Hollywood event made her realize that she, too, had been assaulted. Here's what she had to say, as reprinted by E! News:

"It was an extraordinary experience, perhaps more than ever, to have this shared space and a tribe of women and artists talking about this industry, and ultimately therefore talking about sexual harassment in the workplace. And a very interesting thing happened this morning. I woke up and I realized that in that space I talked about how I was one of the lucky ones because I was raised by actors who told me their stories and told me what to look out for, and I realized that I was I still justifying behavior. And it was my mom who said, 'No, no, no, Laura—that was sexual assault. That was harassment. That was assault. You were 14 then.'...You realize how in our culture we have justified, and therefore even condoned behavior, as though it's the norm...I felt very moved by people being honest and direct."

You might think that once you "make it to the top" you might be immune to harassment. You would be wrong. Ilana Glazer opened up on her Instagram about harassment, stating "i've fired a couple dudes — one background actor and one sound guy. I was asked ‘are you sure.’ Okay yeah lemme think for a sec — YEAH I’M FUCKING SURE. cuz getting sexually harassed seems to be constant, but having the opportunity to do something about it is rare.”

As we all know, harassment and assault is not confined to the entertainment world; it's everywhere. Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney recently opened up about being molested by her team doctor beginning at the age of 13. Read her full account at NPR.