Gretchen Carlson’s campaign to help harassment victims

Time magazine this week bestowed its Person of the Year award on “The Silence Breakers,” the women who spoke publicly about their experiences with sexual harassment. The article featured famous women such as Ashley Judd, who said movie executive Harvey Weinstein tried to coerce her into sex, and Taylor Swift, who stood up in court to a radio DJ who groped her. But Time also included among its honorees hotel and restaurant workers, an art curator, and an office assistant—all of whom endured the same kind of abuse as Judd and Swift but didn’t have the pulpit of fame from which to speak out.

Crystal Washington, a hospitality coordinator at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, told how she and some co-workers are suing their employer for not protecting them from sexual harassment. But she cannot afford to leave her job and still has to go to work every day and see the man she says harassed and groped her.

“It’s a dream to be an employee there,” Washington told Time. “And then you find out what it really is, and it’s a nightmare.”

Time predicted the Silence Breakers and the movement they started would usher in change for women in the workplace. But for that to happen, reform must make it downstream from Hollywood into everyday workplaces throughout the country. Former Fox News Channel host Gretchen Carlson, who wasn’t mentioned in the Time article, has worked with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to promote legislation to protect women in the workplace. A bill introduced this week would void forced arbitration clauses in employee contracts that prevent sexual harassment victims from taking their cases to court.

“Forced arbitration is a harasser’s best friend,” Carlson said in a statement. “It keeps harassment complaints and settlements secret. It allows harassers to stay in their jobs, even as victims are pushed out or fired.” Carlson left her job at Fox News in 2016 and sued the network, claiming CEO Roger Ailes made unwanted sexual advances toward her and demoted her when she turned him down. She also claimed the network cultivated a pervasive sexist culture. Ailes resigned not long after Carlson sued, and he died after a fall at home in May. Fox settled with Carlson for $20 million.

Carlson’s supporters took exception to her exclusion from the Time article and accused the magazine of bias against her conservative views. (The article did include an interview and photo of Megyn Kelly, also a former Fox News anchor who spoke out against sexual harassment there.)

“Not cool Time that you left Gretchen Carlson off #metoo POTY cover,” journalist Gabriel Sherman tweeted. But Carlson responded by congratulating the honorees and focusing on the future: “Thx @gabrielsherman—It’s ok making landmark change today on the Hill introducing my legislation to stop arbitration clauses for sexual harassment in employment contracts and it’s bipartisan! Imagine that.”

Curious portrait

The mystery buyer who dropped $450 million last month for Leonardo da Vinci’s painting Salvator Mundi, “Savior of the World” in Latin, was none other than Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to news reports. The New York Times first named the buyer as the little-known Saudi Prince Bader bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan al-Saud (or just Prince Bader), and the Wall Street Journal reported a source told them Bader acted as a proxy for Crown Prince Mohammed. The auction at Christie’s in New York took place less than two weeks after the Saudi ruling family arrested numerous officials in an anti-corruption sweep that many observers say was designed to consolidate the crown prince’s power. Saudi news media cheered the arrests as a crackdown on the excess of the royal family. Among the detained was billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, one of the richest men in the world.

But the crown prince is no stranger to excess, either. He owns a $550 million yacht, bought on impulse. He’s also not afraid to rile the religious establishment as a champion of social reforms, including the royal decree this year to allow women in the kingdom to drive for the first time.

Muslims teach that Jesus was a prophet, not the savior of the world, and strict Muslims believe the depiction of prophets is a form of idolatry. The purchase of a $450 million painting shows the crown prince untethering himself from the Saudi status quo and raises many more questions about the kingdom’s future. The painting is set for exhibit at the Louvre Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. —L.L.

They all fall down?

Also significant in the movement to hold sexual harassers and abusers accountable is the lawsuit filed this week by six women against Harvey Weinstein and Weinstein Co. board members. The women sued in federal court for damages under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, the same law used by then–federal prosecutor Rudy Giuliani to break up the mafia in New York City in the 1980s. The suit accuses Weinstein and his associates of building a mob-like organization to plan, commit, and cover up sexual abuses. “The Weinstein Sexual Enterprise had many participants, [and] grew over time as the obfuscation of Weinstein’s conduct became more difficult to conceal,” the suit claims. A successful RICO case against Weinstein and his cohorts would help not only hold sexual abusers accountable but also dismantle the fortress of power that protected them. —L.L.

Thrills and chills

CBS has ordered a reboot of The Twilight Zone from newcomer Jordan Peele for the network’s All Access streaming platform. Peele wrote and directed this year’s horror movie Get Out, in which a young African-American man goes to meet his white girlfriend’s parents at their secluded (and nightmarish) country home. He’s also known for starring in the Comedy Central sketch show Key and Peele from 2012 to 2015. Peele is working with Simon Kinberg, who produced two of the newer X-Men movies, on The Twilight Zone reboot. —L.L.