#MeToo-era organisation Time’s Up is ceasing operations – at least in its current form
- Time’s Up is shifting remaining funds to the independently administered Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, and stopping other operations
- The fund is administered by the National Women’s Law Center and provides legal and administrative help to workers. It has funded or committed funding to 350 cases
The Golden Globes carpet typically glitters with crystal-studded gowns in pastel hues, but it looked different in January 2018: The ball gowns were black, and the night’s key accessory was a pin that read “Time’s Up.” Onstage, Oprah Winfrey brought guests to their feet with a warning to powerful abusers: “Their time is up!”
Five years later, Time’s Up – the now-embattled anti-harassment organisation founded with fanfare during the early days of the #MeToo reckoning against sexual misconduct – is ceasing operations, at least in its current form.
A year after pledging a “major reset” following a scandal involving its leaders’ dealings with then-New York Governor Andrew Cuomo amid sexual harassment allegations, the group tells Associated Press that Time’s Up is shifting remaining funds to the independently administered Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, and stopping other operations.
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The decision, which board chair Gabrielle Sulzberger said takes effect by the end of January, caps a tumultuous period for an organisation that made a splashy public entrance on January 1, 2018, with newspaper ads running an open letter signed by hundreds of prominent Hollywood movie stars, producers and agents.
Following the highly visible show of support days later at the Globes, donations large and small flowed into a GoFundMe to the tune of US$24 million, earmarked for the nascent Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund. The following months saw the formation of the rest of Time’s Up, which promised a housecleaning of an industry rocked by the stunning allegations against mogul Harvey Weinstein.
By January 2023, Time’s Up looked very different after a radical housecleaning of its own – sparked by a damaging internal report – with only a skeleton crew and three remaining board members. Remaining funds now total about US$1.7 million, Sulzberger said; the millions from the early donations already went to the legal fund.
“It was not an easy decision, but the board was unanimous that it’s the right decision and the most impactful way we get to move forward,” Sulzberger told Associated Press.
