The anti-harassment #MeToo movement was named Time magazine’s Person of the Year, in what the magazine termed “The Silence Breakers – the voices that launched the movement agianst sexual harassment.”
In the wake of revelations about Harvey Weinstein and other men, millions have shared their stories about being sexually harassed and assaulted.
The announcement was made Wednesday on NBC’s Today show, where longtime host Matt Lauer was recently fired amid harassment allegations. Today host Savannah Guthrie acknowledged that this year’s winner hits “close to home” and mentioned Lauer by name.
The two runners-up were China’s president, Xi Jinping, and Donald Trump, himself accused of sexual misconduct by numerous women. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Time magazine had said last month that Trump was “incorrect” when he claimed to have taken a “pass” on an interview and “major photo shoot” because the publication told him he was only “probably” going to be named its person of the year.
Dozens of men and women have shared their stories since October about sexual misconduct by numerous high-profile men in entertainment, media, business and sports. The revelations also helped prompt huge numbers of people worldwide to tweet about their experiences with sexual harassment and assault.
The #MeToo movement was founded by activist Tarana Burke on Twitter a decade ago to raise awareness about sexual violence. The phenomena took off spontaneously in October after actor and activist Alyssa Milano followed on a suggestion from a friend of a friend on Facebook and tweeted: “If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet.”
The hashtag was tweeted nearly a million times in 48 hours.
The Time shortlist had also included NFL player Colin Kaepernick, Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, and Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins
