Gal Gadot signs solidarity letter with harassment victims

Actress among hundreds of women who pledge to fund legal defense for blue-collar workers.

By AMY SPIRO
Updated: JANUARY 3, 2018 23:38
Actress Gal Gadot arrives at the 74th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California, US, January 8, 2017 (photo credit: REUTERS/MIKE BLAKE)
Actress Gal Gadot arrives at the 74th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California, US, January 8, 2017
(photo credit: REUTERS/MIKE BLAKE)
Israeli actress Gal Gadot joined a slew of powerful Hollywood women and said that she had signed a letter of solidarity with victims of sexual harassment in blue-collar industries.
The letter, originally signed by 300 of Hollywood’s best-known female stars, also pledged to fund a legal defense fund “to help survivors of sexual assault and harassment across all industries challenge those responsible for the harm against them and give voice to their experiences.”
Gadot posted a copy of the letter on Twitter Tuesday evening and wrote: “I signed this letter of solidarity to stand with women and men across every industry who have experienced sexual harassment, assault, or abuse in saying: enough is enough #TIMESUP.”

Other women who signed on to the “Time’s Up” note and initiative include Natalie Portman, Reese Witherspoon, Meryl Streep, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Hudson, Selena Gomez and many more.
The women wrote that they “recognize our privilege and the fact that we have access to enormous platforms to amplify our voices. Both of which have driven widespread attention to the existence of this problem in our industry that farmworker women and countless individuals in other industries have not been afforded.”
Gal Gadot Talks About New Movie "Justice League" And Sexual Harassment In Hollywood (Youtube/ Today)
Gadot has not been among the most outspoken women in Hollywood on the issue of sexual harassment, but sometimes her actions have spoken louder than words.
In late October, the actress backed out of presenting an award from the Jewish National Fund to director and producer Brett Ratner just days in advance. Gadot claimed it was due to scheduling conflicts, but many media outlets speculated it was due to the multiple accusations of sexual assault and harassment against him, which were publicized just a few days later.
A month later, the New York Post reported that Gadot had demanded from the producers of the sequel to Wonder Woman that Ratner have no role. In mid-November she clarified the incident in a TV interview, saying, “The truth is, you know, there’s so many people involved in making this movie, it’s not just me, and they all echoed the same sentiments, so everyone knew what was the right thing to do.” In reality, Gadot added, “there was nothing for me to actually come and say, because it was already done before this article came out.”
Ratner has been accused of assault and harassment by at least seven different women. According to Variety, Ratner’s attorney filed a motion last week in a libel suit against one of his accusers seeking to prevent media disclosures. The motion also called to limit the defendant’s ability to investigate and cite the accusations against Ratner by other women.

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The woman Ratner is suing for libel, Melanie Kohler, accused Ratner of rape in a Facebook post. She is being represented by Roberta Kaplan, who is one of the leaders behind the legal defense fund set up by the Time’s Up movement.