It’s one thing to attempt to reform Hollywood’s apparently chronic abuse of women. It’s another thing to say that due process shouldn’t apply to the accused.
But feminist actress/activist Amber Tamblyn (Joan of Arcadia, The Sisterhood of theTraveling Pants) has decided that people accused of assault or rape are “suspect until proven innocent.” On Twitter, the #metoo actress posted: “People keep asking me if I believe in innocent until proven guilty. When it comes to sexual assault, I believe in suspect until proven innocent. Goodnight.”
When her followers commented that Tamblyn’s denial of due process (mentioned in the 5th and 14th amendments in the Bill of Rights) was similar to a precedent set by authoritarian regimes, Tamblyn lashed out: “People still ask me this. As if I’m a court of law. So, this is my thought on it.”
While the many accusations levied against the corruption in Hollywood have resulted, rightfully so, in criminal investigations (and potentially trials) against the accused, the issue arises among feminist Hollywood: what happens when someone makes a false accusation? The story with Aziz Ansari and his unnamed accuser caused people in the media to ask: what actually counts as assault and rape?
Tamblyn’s efforts have led to some confusing results. Recently, her husband was accused of making a racist gesture towards a young Asian-American actress, and in an interview with Buzzfeed, Tamblyn stated:
“David can feel emphatically that what he did was not racist, or a racist gesture, and I believe that’s true. I know that can be true for him. I also know that a joke that he might say to a Zach Galifianakis or a Michael Cera, when you say that to a young Asian-American woman, you have changed the conversation. Context is everything.”
Tamblyn somehow managed to say that both her husband and the actress were right … and got away with it?
Innocent until proven guilty is a standard that needs to be upheld.
