Seal Calls Out ‘Sanctimonious’ Oprah Winfrey After Golden Globes Speech On Sexual Harassment
Seal has taken to social media to criticize Oprah Winfrey just days after her widely praised speech at the 75th Golden Globe Awards which highlighted the importance of the “Time’s Up” movement – a campaign created to combat systemic sexual harassment in the entertainment business and workplaces nationwide.
Oprah received a standing ovation for her impassioned monologue during Sunday night’s ceremony, where she accepted the Cecil B. DeMille award for lifetime achievement, declaring that “time is up” on sexual harassment, racial injustice, and the imbalance of power in our society.
“For too long, women have not been heard or believed if they dare speak the truth to the power of those men. But their time is up. Their time is up. So I want all the girls watching here, now, to know that a new day is on the horizon.”
“And when that new day finally dawns, it will be because of a lot of magnificent women, many of whom are right here in this room tonight, and some pretty phenomenal men, fighting hard to make sure that they become the leaders who take us to the time when nobody ever has to say ‘me too’ again,” she concluded her powerful address.
In response, the talk show host received an incredible outpouring of support from the audience, both at the event and at home, with many urging her to run for US Presidency in 2020, but apparently, not everyone approved of this political proposal.
On Wednesday, British singer and songwriter Seal publicly lambasted Oprah for her comments, which were largely made in response to the wave of sexual misconduct allegations in Hollywood, as he accused the 63-year-old star of being “part of the problem for decades.”
In a scathing Instagram post, the 54-year-old crooner republished a pair of photos of the TV broadcaster appearing beside the disgraced movie producer Harvey Weinstein, who has been accused of sexual assault and harassment by dozens of women over recent months.
“Oh I forgot, that’s right….. you’d heard the rumours but you had no idea he was actually serially assaulting young stary-eyed actresses who in turn had no idea what they were getting into. My bad,” Seal sarcastically captioned the post, along with the hashtag “#SanctimoniousHollywood.”
Speaking to CBS News in October, Oprah addressed the allegations of sexual harassment and assault against Weinstein, describing the scandal as a “watershed moment.”
“Everybody has a story and so I think this is a watershed moment. If we make this just about Harvey Weinstein, then we will have lost this moment.”
“I think this is a moment where no matter what business you work in, there have been women who not only had the disease to please, that’s a part of it, but who felt that in order to keep my job, in order to keep my positioning, in order to keep moving forward, I’ve got to smile, I’ve got to look the other way, I’ve got to pretend he didn’t say that, I’ve got to pretend he didn’t touch me – I think those days are about to be over,” she declared during the interview.
https://www.facebook.com/oprahwinfrey/posts/10155817581027220
The media mogul previously released a statement on Facebook thanking the “brave voices” of the victims who had come forward with their alleged experiences of sexual assault and harassment.
