Sarah Jessica Parker Speaks Out About Sexual Harassment She’s Endured In Hollywood

Sarah Jessica Parker recently opened up about sexual harassment in Hollywood in a new interview that was covered by The Independent. The Sex and the City star went on record to tell fans of the beloved show that even mega-stars of her caliber and level of respect in Tinseltown are still sometimes subject to the same ugly treatment as women in all walks of life.

“Yeah, I’ve had my share of it,” she said.

“I’ve had nothing happen that can compare with some of the most harrowing stories that we’ve all heard, but I’ve certainly had to try to figure out how to stand up for myself or at least try to feel comfortable… Be heard to the degree that I can do my work.”

Parker, who was doing press events to promote her new film Here and Now, also went on to talk about all manner of topics, including the challenges of making films under austere budgetary constraints, as well as her tabloid-ready, tumultuous relationship with fellow Sex and the City star Kim Cattrall.

While Parker is probably most widely recognized for her work portraying Carrie Bradshaw, she has also been a strong, outspoken proponent of the #MeToo movement and Time’s Up. She added that her character would probably “have a lot to say” about sexual harassment in Hollywood and elsewhere. Even in her own experience, Parker said she has seen first hand that sexual harassment in Hollywood has long been a “cultural, endemic problem.”

And even going beyond the outcry over the stark brutality of the treatment people like Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby allegedly showed the women they targeted, Parker said it’s high time to build on the general public disgust at the pervasive misogyny built into the Hollywood system on all levels. Furthermore, she voiced her support for equal representation and equal pay for women. Parker name-checked “50/50 by 2020,” the movement that seeks equilibrium for women to be hired on Hollywood productions, and suggested this sort of attack on “the pipeline” was necessary to achieve real change.

Parker was also recently quoted in an interview with Metro as saying that there is a need for not only a feminist movement in Hollywood, but what she terms a “humanist” one, a movement to be more inclusive of LGBTQ actors and ensuring more representation for them in film roles.

“My fervent hope is that the quality of parts will get better because we’re having the conversation that it’s necessary,” she said. “But I think it’s not just about a feminist call-to-arms, it’s humanist…it’s about the LGBTQ community.”

“We have to do better by everybody,” she added.