In the United States, one in six women have been sexually assaulted along with one in 33 men, according to the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network.  This problem has been constantly getting worse over the years, especially with the influence of social media as a means of communication and implied consent.  While sexual assault is more common for women, all genders are affected, and assaults typically take place as a result of an unequal power dynamic.  Sexual assault is unfortunately common among all people, but it gains a lot of publicity particularly within the entertainment industry. 

One of the most notorious incidents of sexual assault in Hollywood is the Harvey Weinstein scandal.  This was first made public in October of 2017, when a story broke with several allegations against Weinstein.  After the initial allegations, more women came forward with sexual assault and harrasment claims, including Angelina Jolie and Cara Delevingne.  As people continued to come forward, Hollywood responded.  Weinstein was fired from The Weinstein Company by the company’s board, the Du Bois medal awarded to him by Harvard University was taken away, and the British Film Institute Fellowship was taken away from him.  Weinstein was also banned from the Producers Guild of America and many other organizations.  Due to the astonishing amount of allegations against him, Weinstein faced much retribution from Hollywood and the public and was convicted. 

“The Harvey Weinstein scandal was one of the first sexual assault instances that I remember seeing all over the media.  It had a huge impact on everyone around me.  It was shocking to see the list of women grow and grow each day,” said senior Ellie Shapiro.

While Weinstein did face many consequences for his actions, this highly publicized scandal did not change the fact that many others, especially people in power, were still involved in these types of scandals.  Weinstein is just one example of the many instances of sexual assault in the entertainment industry.  Some other accused celebrities include Armie Hammer, Bill Cosby, Prince Andrew, Woody Allen, and Ansel Elgort.  The previously adored television personality Matt Lauer also abused his power, resulting from him being fired from the The Today Show after 14 years as one of the most respected morning news anchors. 

More recently, Sex and the City actor Chris Noth was accused of sexual assault by serveral different women after And Just Like That, the Sex and the City reboot aired.  Noth responded to these allegations by claiming they are “categorically false.”  However, as a result of the allegations, Noth was dropped by A3 Artists Agency and fired from The Equalizer.  His ad with Peloton was also quickly pulled. 

“Mr. Big is such a beloved Sex and the City charcter and hearing the allegations against him was sad, but unfortunately not surprising.  There are so many instances of sexual assault in the entertainment industry and it makes me wonder, what can we do to fix it?” said senior Leah Schachter. 

These past few months, TikTok star Sienna Mae Gomez has been accused of incidents of sexual assault against fellow TikTok star Jack Wright.  Gomez is an 18 year old entertainer, most famous for her body positivity content.  She and Wright were involved in a relationship over the first half of 2021.  It is unclear if this relationship was merely a friendship or perhaps something more.  These allegations first surfaced in May of 2021 via a tweet from Wright’s friend Mason Rizzo.  This tweet has since been deleted.  Gomez later put out a video in which she unequivocally denies the allegations against her.  During this time, Wright has maintained his silence.  In July of 2021, Gomez posted an apology video where she danced to “Young” by Sam Smith and asked for forgiveness.  After this, the situation did not gain much more attention until Wright posted a YouTube video titled, What Sienna Mae Did to Me, in January 2022.  He made many accusations against Gomez in this video, saying she broke into his house and assaulted him while he was sleeping.  This video has over twenty million views to date.  Gomez responded in a blog post on Medium. 

“Jack, if you are reading this: I apologize if there were times that I made you feel uncomfortable.  I am sorry if anything I ever did triggered other things you have experienced or any feelings of discomfort.  But anything I did, I did unknowingly, as our physical relationship on camera was one of closeness and familiarity that I had known to carry into our “real” lives.  That said, there is a distinct line between that and sexual assault.  I’m so sad that this is where we ended up, and even more so that I’m now being used in a new and even more hurtful way,” she wrote on Medium.  

 The Sienna Mae Gomez and Jack Wright situation shows just how multifaceted the issues of sexual assault are.  Wright stated that he didn’t come forward sooner because he was scared that as a male victim of sexual assault, he wouldn’t be believed. 

“The allegations helped bring to light that sexual assault can happen across the board, not just with men as the issue,” said senior Jae Longaro.

Sexual assault is a problem that is not always clear.  Due to the publicity of sexual assault in the entertainment industry, some predators are punished appropriately.  However, there are many cases that go unnoticed, unreported, and victims are not believed.  These highly publicized instances of sexual assault show that it can happen to anyone of any gender.