The Golden Globes’ Red Carpet Black-out

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Last Sunday, Hollywood’s biggest stars arrived at the Beverly Hilton to one of the first (and largest) award shows of the season. At the red carpet, cameras, paparazzi, and interviewers awaited the chance to see the A-List celebrities in attendance this year. However, there was something massively different about this year’s ceremony- over half of the stars attending this year wore all black.

Fashion insiders on the red carpet refrained from asking the question Who are you wearing tonight?, instead opting to ask Why are you wearing black? For most, the answer was simple: to stand in solidarity with the brave individuals who have come forward and shared their stories of sexual assault and harassment in Hollywood. An outpour of allegations have been coming out since October of 2017.

The movement to wear all black began when household names such as Meryl Streep, Angelina Jolie, and Oprah Winfrey vowed to stand in solidarity with the #TimesUp movement and refrain from wearing bright colors in the wake of the allegations. This prompted nearly all women in attendance of the ceremony to join in and wear black as well, creating a black-out on the red carpet. Some of the men also joined in and wore black suits, along with a black and white lapel pin with the phrase “Time’s Up” written on it. These pins were seen all around on the red carpet.

Later on, the ceremony, which was hosted by Seth Meyers, faced the difficult task of being the first major award show to occur of the season; which also meant being the first to address the powerful #MeToo movement. Just a mere four minutes into the opening monologue performed by the comedian, Meyers paid tribute to Harvey Weinstein by referring to him as the “elephant not in the room” while hordes of attendees booed the mention of the now-debunked director. Directly after, Meyers threw a blow to Kevin Spacey and made several references to the other men who have been accused as well.

With the award season just taking off for this year, viewers can expect to see more pokes and prods towards the countless male figures who have faced scrutiny this year at the upcoming shows. Meyers’ monologue did exactly what was needed and immediately set the tone for the night, simultaneously making light of the situation while affirming what the countless celebrities and movements have tried to convey- that sexual assault does not hold a spot in Hollywood any longer.