Stars to walk Golden Globes red carpet with activists

Actress Amy Poehler (left) and Saru Jayaraman, an attorney, author, activist and advocate for restaurant workers in the San Francisco Bay Area, at the 75th Golden Globe Awards on Jan 7, 2018. PHOTO: NYTIMES

LOS ANGELES (NYTIMES) - In their push to highlight the problems of sexual harassment and gender inequality, eight actresses at the Golden Globes ceremony (Monday morning, Singapore time) are extending their political statements to their plus-ones.

Laura Dern, Amy Poehler, Susan Sarandon, Meryl Streep, Emma Stone, Emma Watson, Michelle Williams and Shailene Woodley have said that on the red carpet they will each be accompanied by activists in a range of fields.

The move is part of a widening effort by prominent Hollywood women, who formed the umbrella group Time's Up, to extend the focus on sexual harassment to women marginalised because of class, sexuality, ethnicity or race.

The initiative's efforts range from the establishment of a legal fund to fight sexual harassment to symbolic statements like wearing black on the red carpet and now inviting activists to the Globes.

In a joint statement, the eight activists said they hoped that by attending the Golden Globes, they would redirect attention from abusers to survivors and lasting solutions.

"We believe we are nearing a tipping point in transforming the culture of violence in the countries where we live and work," the women said. "It's a moment to transform both the written and unwritten rules that devalue the lives and experiences of women."

Billie Jean King, the tennis champion who founded the Women's Tennis Association, will accompany Stone, who is up for a Globe for her portrayal of King in the film Battle Of The Sexes.

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