BY UNDRE SMITH BREWER, STAFF WRITER

The recent news about Harvey Weinstein is disturbing, to say the least. The powerful film producer was exposed for sexually harassing a countless number of women over decades using his power and influence in order to take advantage of aspiring actresses and others who wanted to get into the film business. The “New York Times” broke the news of the many allegations against Weinstein in an explosive report. He even admitted to being “used to” touching women against their will after one of the victims wore a wire in part of an investigation of him.

There were multiple members of his staff and associates who had knowledge of his actions and let him continue confronting him. Choosing to ignore those actions is the same as condoning them. Weinstein went to great lengths to ensure that no one reported him for his behavior. In the future, the guilty party should be held accountable for harmful behavior like Weinstein’s.

The only good news, if one could even call it that, to come from this situation is that more and more victims are speaking up about those who have been guilty of harassment in the past. The news gave other victims a reason to speak up about Weinstein’s actions. Weinstein has been publicly condemned, he’s been fired by his own brother from his production company, his wife has left him and now Hollywood executives or any other powerful entity will want to avoid being the next Harvey Weinstein.

More Hollywood executives are being called out for their predatory behavior. Users added the “#MeToo” hashtag to tweets acknowledging that they dealt with sexual harassment or assault. The more people who get exposed and punished for their actions, the closer we can get to people stopping all behavior like it.

This article first appeared in the Friday, October 20, 2017, Edition of The Echo.