We all know that Hollywood is a glamorous and exciting place, but recently, “Stranger Things” actress Grace Van Dien shared a shocking story about her experience with sexual harassment on the set of one of her recent movies.
Van Dien alleges that a movie producer asked her to join in on a threesome, prompting her to put a hold on her acting career and turn down four movies in the last two and a half weeks. It's time for us to take a stand against this kind of behavior in our industry.
"Here's the thing: I've seen that some people are upset with me for turning down acting projects and deciding to stream more, but the fact of the matter is, the last few projects I've worked on, I didn't have the best experiences with some of the people I had to work for," Van Dien said, per Us Weekly.
Sexual harassment is not only wrong, but it’s also illegal. According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), sexual harassment is defined as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when it affects an individual’s employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment. Unfortunately, this type of behavior still exists in many workplaces today including Hollywood.
Van Dien showed tremendous courage by coming forward with her story and speaking out against such unacceptable behavior. By doing so, she has inspired many others to speak up if they are faced with similar situations so that they don’t have to suffer in silence as she did. She has also shown us that it's okay to take control of our own careers and not be afraid to speak up if something doesn't feel right.
As we work together as an industry to combat this issue, we must also ensure that those who report incidents of harassment are treated fairly and their complaints are taken seriously.
Moving forward, we must continue to focus our attention on making sure people feel safe in the workplace and take steps toward creating an open dialogue about these issues within the entertainment industry so that everyone feels comfortable speaking out about their experiences without fear of retribution or judgment.
TL;DR
Sexual harassment is never acceptable and should always be reported immediately so that it can be addressed properly. We thank Grace Van Dien for bravely coming forward with her story and sharing her experience as it helps bring awareness to this important issue within Hollywood and beyond! We must continue working together as an industry to ensure everyone feels safe while pursuing their dreams without fear of experiencing any inappropriate behavior from colleagues or employers. Let's keep talking about these issues until real change happens!
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