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Scarlett Johansson Called Out James Franco During Her Women's March Speech


An estimated 4.9 million protestors gathered at 673 marches around the world on Saturday to support equal rights for women, protest against sexual harassment and assault, encourage crowds to vote in this year’s midterm elections, and speak up for the rights of immigrants and Dreamers. As people gathered in the streets of cities like New York, Washington D.C., Atlanta, and Los Angeles, celebrities gave rousing speeches and shared their messages of empowerment. Scarlett Johansson stepped up to the podium in Los Angeles to address her own experiences as a young women—and to call out James Franco, who, in opposition to his public support of the Time’s Up movement, has been accused of sexual misconduct.

She started her speech by thanking the women who helped organize the march and the Time’s Up movement before explaining that the reckoning taking place in Hollywood has made her step back and think: “How could a person publicly stand by an organization that helps to provide support for victims of sexual assault while privately preying on people who have no power?”

She paused and looked at the crowd, “I want my pin back, by the way.”

A rep confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that this comment was directed at Franco, who recently won a Golden Globe for his leading role in The Disaster Artist and accepted the award while wearing a Time’s Up pin. During the ceremony he received backlash on Twitter from actress Ally Sheedy, who alluded to Franco’s behavior as the reason she left the entertainment industry. Days later the Los Angeles Times published a story in which five women accused Franco of sexually exploitative behavior.

Johansson went on to reflect on her own experiences as a young actress: “Suddenly I was 19 again and I began to remember all the men who had taken advantage of the fact that I was a young woman who didn’t yet have the tools to say no or understand the value of my own self-worth. I had many relationships, both personal and professional, where the power dynamic was so off that I had to create a narrative that I was the cool girl who could hang in and hang out, and that sometimes meant compromising what felt right for me.”

She encouraged everyone to take responsibility for themselves, for their actions, and for teaching their children by leading by example.

“I have recently introduced a phrase in my life that I would like to share with you: No more pandering,” Johansson said to the crowd. “No more feeling guilty about hurting people’s feelings when something doesn’t feel right for me. I have made a promise to myself to be responsible to myself, that in order to trust my instincts I must first respect them.”

She also told the crowd that she is still working on forgiving herself, “forgiving the girl who felt used and heartbroken and confused and guilty and taken advantage of and weak.”

The actress concluded her speech by saying, “It gives me hope that we are moving towards a place where our sense of equality can truly come from within ourselves.”

Watch Johansson’s full speech in the clips below.

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Related Stories:
–A Year Later, the Women’s March Is More Powerful—and Pertinent—Than Ever
–Donald Trump Trolls Women’s March With a Predictably Selfish Tweet
–None of the Male Winners at the Golden Globes Talked About Time’s Up in Their Speeches





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These Emotional Celebrity Speeches From the 2018 Women's March Will Get You Fired Up


One year after millions of people took to the streets in what became the largest single-day protest in the history of America, the Women’s March returned, reignited by movements like #MeToo and #TimesUp, as well as the fight to protect DACA and immigrants’ rights. And that’s really only the beginning. (The government shut-down and Trump’s recent comments about nations like Haiti provided ample fodder to fuel the crowds’ frustration—and creative sign-making.)

In rallies across the country—from New York City to Atlanta to Los Angeles—celebrities took to podiums to shine a spotlight on topics like sexual harassment and racial justice, as well as rally crowds to vote in the midterm elections later this year. Speakers like Natalie Portman and Halsey made explicit references to their own experiences with sexual harassment and abuse. At Sundance, lawyer Gloria Allred pushed to bring back the fight for an equal rights amendment, saying, “No one has ever given women their rights,” and adding: “We have been fighting for almost 95 years just to put women in the constitution to protect the rights of our daughters and we are going to have it.”

Here are the highlights from some of the most emotional speeches at the various Women’s March rallies.

Viola Davis, Los Angeles
“Every single day, your job as an American citizen is not just to fight for your rights, but it is to fight for the right of every individual that is taking a breath, whose heart is pumping and breathing on this earth. I am speaking today not just for the ‘Me Toos,’ because I was a ‘Me Too,’ but when I raise my hand, I am aware of all the women who are still in silence. The women who are faceless. The women who don’t have the money and don’t have the constitution and who don’t have the confidence and who don’t have the images in our media that gives them a sense of self-worth enough to break their silence that is rooted in the shame of assault and rooted in the stigma of assault.”

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Alyssa Milano, Atlanta
“I really want you guys to look around at each other. I want you to look around and I want you to realize, that this, this right here is what democracy looks like. It doesn’t happen automatically. It demands our action and participation. It challenges us but it also empowers us because at the end of the day, it is us. With [the] two words [‘me too’], we regained our dignity and #MeToo connected us through our pain but it also connected us, and this is very important. It connected us each one of us to our own power and by saying #MeToo, we formed a bond that is unbreakable. We formed a movement that is unstoppable and when time comes time to vote, you’re gonna prove that it’s also unbeatable. Voting is how we prove that our country is so much bigger and kinder than one man that is in the White House. The good news is that in a democracy like ours, the real power is not with him, it is with you. Let me tell you, we’ve got a whole lot more love and hope on our side than they have a–holes.”

Whoopi Goldberg, New York City
“The only way we’re going to make a change is if we commit to change. We have to decide that the people who represent us have to represent all of us. They can’t represent some of us. We’re all human beings and have a right to say, ‘This is how I want to be spoken to. I don’t want to be spoken to like you own me, like you think you can touch me when I say you cannot.’ We are here to say—as women—we’re not taking it anymore. It’s just not going to happen.”

PHOTO: MARK RALSTON/Getty Images

Eva Longoria, Constance Wu, and Natalie Portman at the 2018 Women’s March in Los Angeles.

Natalie Portman, Los Angeles
“I keep hearing a particular gripe about this culture shift, and maybe you have too. Some people have been calling this movement ‘puritanical’ or ‘a return to Victorian values,’ where men can’t behave or speak sexually around dainty, delicate, fragile women. To these people, I want to say: the current system is puritanical. Maybe men can say and do whatever they want, but women cannot. The current system inhibits women from expressing our desires, wants, and needs; from seeking our pleasure. Let me tell you about my own experience. I turned 12 on the set of my first film, The Professional, in which I played a young girl who befriends a hit man and hopes to avenge the murder of her family. […] I was so excited at 13 when the film was released, and my work and my art would have a human response. I excitedly opened my first fan mail to read a rape fantasy that a man had written me. A countdown was started on my local radio show to my 18th birthday, euphemistically the date that I would be legal to sleep with. Movie reviewers talked about my budding breasts in reviews. […] At 13 years old, the message from our culture was clear to me. I felt the need to cover my body and to inhibit my expression and my work in order to send my own message to the world that I’m someone worthy of safety and respect. The response to my expression—from small comments about my body to more threatening, deliberate statements, served to control my behavior through an environment of sexual terrorism. A world in which I could wear whatever I want, say whatever I want, and express a desire however I want—without fearing for my physical safety or reputation—that would be the world in which female desire and sexuality could have its greatest expression and fulfillment. That world we want to build is the opposite of puritanical. So I’d like to propose one way to continue moving this revolution forward. Let’s declare loud and clear: The is what I want. This is what I need. This is what I desire. This is how you can help me achieve pleasure. To people of all genders here with us today, let’s find a space where we mutually, consensually look out for each other’s pleasure, and allow the vast, limitless range of desire to be expressed. Let’s make a revolution of desire.”

Halsey, New York City
The singer has been vocal about her own emotional struggles in the past—including describing a miscarriage she experienced right before a performance—and for the Women’s March she read a raw, intense poem called “Story of Mine” that that nodded to her own experiences with sexual abuse. The poem begins with an account of the rape of a friend of hers and its aftermath: “It’s 2009 and I’m 14 and I’m crying / Not really sure where I am but I’m holding the hand of my best friend Sam / In the waiting room of a Planned Parenthood / The air is sterile and clean, and the walls are that not grey, but green / And the lights are so bright they could burn a whole through the seam of my jeans / My phone is buzzing in the pocket / My mom is asking me if I remembered my keys ’cause she’s closing the door and she needs to lock it / But I can’t tell my mom where I’ve gone / I can’t tell anyone at all / You see, my best friend Sam was raped by a man that we knew ’cause he worked in the after-school program / And he held her down with her textbooks beside her / And he covered her mouth and he came inside her / So now I’m with Sam, at the place with a plan, waiting for the results of a medical exam / And she’s praying she doesn’t need an abortion, she couldn’t afford it / And her parents would, like, totally kill her.”

Halsey then recounts her own history with abuse, saying: “It’s 2002 and my family just moved and the only people I know are my mom’s friend Sue and her son / He’s got a case of Matchbox cars and he says that he’ll teach me to play the guitar if I just keep quiet / And the stairwell beside apartment 1245 will haunt me in my sleep for as long as I am alive / And I’m too young to know why it aches in my thighs, but I must lie, I must lie.” She later describes a 2012 relationship with a man who forced her to perform oral sex: “And he wants to have sex, and I just want to sleep / He says I can’t say no to him / This much I owe to him
He buys my dinner, so I have to blow him / He’s taken to forcing me down on my knees / And I’m confused ’cause he’s hurting me while he says please / And he’s only a man, and these things he just needs / He’s my boyfriend, so why am I filled with unease?”

See Halsey perform the full poem here:

Eva Longoria, Los Angeles
“This march and this movement is far more ambitious in scope and scale and it extends beyond one political actor or even one political party. What we’re calling for is sustainable and systematic change to the experience of women and girls in America. A change from fear and intimidation to respect. From pain and humiliation to safety and dignity. From marginalization to equal pay and representation.” (Source: CNN)

Tessa Thompson, Sundance
“Until we see legislation and policy and a president who respects our humanity…we must continue to gather and tell each other’s stories. […] We are here to say Mr. Trump…your time and power may not yet be up, but our time to stay silent is.” (Source: Variety)

Scarlett Johansson Women's March 2018

PHOTO: MARK RALSTON

Scarlett Johansson and Mila Kunis at the 2018 Women’s March in Los Angeles.

Scarlett Johansson, Los Angeles
“I have recently introduced a phrase in my life that I would like to share with you: no more pandering. No more feeling guilty about hurting someone’s feelings when something doesn’t feel right to me. […] I had many relationships where the power dynamic was so off that I had to create a narrative where I was the cool girl. It allowed me to have the approval that women are conditioned to need. Moving forward means my daughter growing up in a world where she doesn’t have to become a victim of what had become the social norm. […] It gives me hope that we are moving towards a place where our sense of equality can truly come from within ourselves.”

Olivia Munn, Los Angeles
“I’m asking all of you to be the team member for every woman in your life. Refrain from judgment. Be the rock of understanding be the well of empathy. Right here, we all have the power to make sure that our daughters, nieces, granddaughters, great granddaughters, grow up with a mentality, that if you come from one of us, you come from all of us.” (Source: CNN)

Olivia Wilde, Los Angeles
“This is a winnable fight, but we need everyone to work together to make it happen. We must reach across cultural divides and recognize our power as an undivided force. This means white women need to hold up our end of the fight. Not just coming to rallies with likeminded others but reaching deep into our own families and communities deep into the places where women wore t-shirts that read, “Trump can grab my p***y,” and have courageous conversations about what freedom really looks like.” (Source: CNN)

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Women's March 2018: The Most Powerful Images


No matter which side of the political aisle you sit, it’s hard to ignore the fact that on Saturday, January 20, 2018—exactly one year after Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States—women ruled the day. Millions of people mobilized in cities across the world, signs in hand, to march in protest of the president, yes, but also the myriad of other challenges we faced this year, including the sheer number of men abusing their power and sexually harassing women, the future of DACA, and the rollback of reproductive rights.

Of course, the beauty of a demonstration is just being there—your presence is more than enough—but it’s even better when you’re carrying a savage protest sign, and marchers in cities including D.C., New York, Chicago, Rome, Denver, Munich, and Park City came to play. From elaborate cartoons to bold messages, here are the most powerful signs and moments from the worldwide marches.



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A Year Later, the Women's March Is More Powerful—and Pertinent—Than Ever


Exactly 365 days after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States, citizens across the world are gathering, signs in hand, to march once again in protest. Since last year’s rallies—led by the historic Women’s March on Washington—it’s safe to say there’s a hell of a lot more to mobilize for in 2018, including the rise of the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, the fate of DACA, and devastating comments made by the leader of the free world including the one about Haiti, El Salvador, and African nations being “shitholes.”

In New York, jewelry designer Nicole Novick tells Glamour that marching this year felt particularly pressing—which is why she and her husband brought their six-year-old twin sons. “I wanted my boys to see what people can do with their hearts and voices—what it looks like to be a force of change,” she says, adding that one of her sons made a sign—without her help!— that says “Be kind to every girl,” and the other chose “Word to your mother.” “As a woman and a [mom], it’s my duty to raise boys that grow up to be good men.”

Those in Park City, Utah, for the annual Sundance film festival, also took time out to march at a rally with speakers that included Jane Fonda. New York magazine events director Tara Reilly is there for work and says the strength-among- women energy is palpable. “A spark has definitely been lit and women are speaking up,” she says. “I’m inspired by strong voices in the entertainment industry, including legends like Jane, coming together to demand change.” She added that she was particularly inspired by something Fonda said: “When we are equal, we are not abused.”

I’m glad more people are getting an understanding of how deep and pervasive the white male patriarchy is in our society, government and culture

Robyn Duda, who just left a large publicly-traded company to start her own design firm, says she’s marching in Philadelphia for “all the women who get the job done well and continue to be paid less than their male counterparts,” adding that “diversity within large company executive teams continues to be embarrassing.”

Her sign, appropriately, reads “Take your 20 cents and invest it in manners.” “We all know women still make 80 cents to the dollar a man makes,” she says. “I can’t wait to see the day where the boardroom and employee pay structure is truly a reflection of a person’s work and not gender or age.”

Other marchers were as hopeful, certainly, but also outraged—and admit their feelings provided impetus to get out and protest.

“It’s been a really frustrating and saddening year,” said New York-based event planner and marcher Allyson Brassard, while non-profit animal shelter director, Brittany Feldman, says she’s ready to march for “the simple fact we have a racist running our country.” Minneapolis-based community outreach director Shaina Smith agrees. “I’m glad more people are getting an understanding of how deep and pervasive the white male patriarchy is in our society, government and culture,” she says “For those of us who were already aware, it’s been an exhausting year.”

There’s a second feminist revolution coming in this country and the world better get ready for it.”

Lydia Pitcher, a college professor in Albany, New York, has a message for the current administration: wake up and pay attention, particularly to people of color. “When you make things better for minority women, you make things better for everyone,” she says. “Folks who are able should consider investing in black-led organizing for political and economic change rather than continuing to fund mainstream efforts which can unintentionally undermine efforts to fight white supremacy and the patriarchy.” She cites Higher Heights, an organization committed to harnessing the power of black women from the voting booth to political leadership, as a good place to start.

In New York, editor Noah Silverstein echoed Pritcher’s idea of marginalized communities needing more recognition. “There hasn’t been any relief for anyone whose human rights are not guaranteed in the eyes of the administration: women, immigrants, the LGBTQIA community, and more,” he said. “As an out gay man, I feel it’s my responsibility to show up and be vocal.”

As far as the future is concerned, those on the ground remain optimistic in spite of the challenges that President Trump and his supporters are pretending don’t exist, but acknowledge that a strength-in-numbers mentality is key to propel change.

“Being part of the women’s march again makes me feel like I’m not alone in my anger and fear about what this administration is doing,” Melissa Berger, who works in philanthropy in New York, says. “I feel that women are the future like never before. We will lead on the issues of women’s rights, immigration rights, black lives matter, sexual assault and harassment. There’s a second feminist revolution coming in this country and the world better get ready for it.”

Abigail McCoy contributed to this report



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Donald Trump Trolls Women's March With a Predictably Selfish Tweet


A year after millions of women around the world marched against President Trump’s inauguration, the Women’s March is back with a vengeance for round two.

The slew of recent sexual abuse allegations and the rise of the #MeToo movement during Trump’s first year as president has inspired women and people everywhere to march for much needed social and political change for the second year in a row.

And amid all of this year’s inspiring action, Trump unsurprisingly took to his Twitter account to tweet his thoughts on the matter.

All things considered, his tweet started off on a strangely good note. “Beautiful weather all over our great country, a perfect day for all Women to March,” he wrote. Okay, that’s a fine first sentence. But then things get weird. Rather than totally grasping or mentioning the actual reasons why people are marching on the streets — his administration, for one — he implied that the march was in celebration of his first year in office. He then encouraged his followers to get out to celebrate the country’s great economy, which by the way, was inherited from President Obama’s administration.

He continued: “Get out there now to celebrate the historic milestones and unprecedented economic success and wealth creation that has taken place over the last 12 months. Lowest female unemployment in 18 years!”

Subsequently, and not surprisingly, tons of people caught on to Trump’s ridiculous trolling. Scroll down for some recent reactions:

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Maxine Waters on How the Women's March Revived Her Faith in the Younger Generation


January 21 marks the one-year anniversary of the Women’s March, the largest single-day protest in U.S. history. All this week, Glamour will be spotlighting the stories, people, and issues that framed the March, as well as where we go from here.

Backstage, before I spoke at the Women’s March in Washington, my mind went immediately to the many marches I’ve been involved in during my lifetime. I couldn’t help but reflect on the work of fellow activists in my past, people like Gloria Steinem, Bella Abzug, and so many others. I met up with Gloria backstage and my heart fluttered to see her, and we embraced and talked about old times.

But I will be honest: I was also feeling as if there had been a long gap. So much time had passed between when we had been together on those marches, what we had accomplished, and today. I had really begun to think that the women’s movement was lost, that younger women didn’t appreciate what we had done, and why. I thought they were more focused on their careers, thinking that a women’s movement didn’t enhance their opportunity for upward mobility, that they didn’t want to be aligned with it. They didn’t think they needed it.

Going in, I had been feeling disappointed, even a bit resentful,
toward the younger generation. But seeing the
size and passion of the crowd… [I realized] I’d
been completely wrong.

I lined up to speak, and I could not believe what I saw. I had heard there would be 250,000 people present; it was more like a million. It was unlike any march I’d been to before. For one thing, there were the pink hats everywhere. The signs were the most creative that I have ever seen. And the women who had organized the march had included people of all cultures and backgrounds in their leadership and planning.

Going in, I had been feeling disappointed, even a bit resentful, toward the younger generation. I was under the impression that they thought what we had done for women’s rights wasn’t important. But seeing the size and passion of the crowd and realizing that the younger women there recognized what we had done and that they were carrying our torch made me realize I’d been completely wrong. And as I left the stage and marched with groups of young women, I saw that they did know the history. Some of them even recognized me and called out my name, and it was thrilling to me to connect with the younger generation. We walked from the stage all the way to the White House and I was in a state of euphoria. It was a wonderful, wonderful experience.

Excerpted from Together We Rise: Behind the Scenes at the Protest Heard Around the World, available for purchase now.

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