The industry is diving into its annual tradition of self-congratulation as the Oscars approach, even as sexual misconduct allegations continue to pour in

Hollywood awards season rolls on despite harassment claims: 'No one's falling apart over this'

The entertainment industry axiom that the show must go on reputedly dates to the 19th century, when circuses continued with performances regardless of lions breaking loose, acrobats tumbling to the ground or the big top catching fire.



Hollywood is following suit.

New sexual harassment claims and confessions emerge daily. A class-action lawsuit against the Weinstein Company and Miramax could leave the companies liable for Harvey Weinstein’s alleged predations. Calls to an industry safety hotline have exploded 500%.

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Yet campaigning for awards – an annual ritual of promotion and self-congratulation climaxing in the Oscars – rolls on, slaloming through a crisis which shows no sign of abating. Instead of donning the sackcloth and ashes of medieval penitents for abusive practices, the industry is gearing up for months of tuxedos, red carpets and gongs.

The Governors Awards kicked off the season last weekend with a lavish ceremony which made no mention of the scandals, not even when Dustin Hoffman, who is facing two accusations, presented an award.

“TV and film awards campaigners aren’t being distracted by the noise. You put it under the heading of life goes on, work goes on,” said Richard Licata, CEO of Licata & Co, a veteran awards strategist. “Nobody is falling apart over this. I don’t think anyone has missed a beat.”

The industry will project the image of Hollywood magic despite cascading allegations and revelations of assault, harassment and bullying, said Sasha Stone, founder and editor of the website Awards Daily.

“That’s what the Oscars are about, keeping that illusion alive. The movie business will keep churning along because it doesn’t have a choice. It has to put out product and make money the best it can.”

No one disputes that this will be an awards season like no other, with harassment revelations gusting through marketing strategies, nominations and podium speeches.

Kevin Spacey’s disgrace and the allegations against Hoffman, for instance, have already upended plans to promote their respective performances in All the Money in the World and The Meyerowitz Stories.

Some speculate that award voters may send a message by rewarding critically acclaimed, female-led films such as Lady Bird, The Shape of Water and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

But there is little sign of acrimony or division derailing the season of celebration.

A few weeks ago, that seemed possible. Weinstein, after all, had long been the awards’ ringmaster, a one-man marketing phenomenon who invented modern campaigning and racked up more than 300 Oscar nominations for his companies’ films.

His fall – after he was accused of assault and harassment by dozens of women (he denies non-consensual sex) – created not only a void but a dilemma.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the industry’s de facto governing body, expelled Weinstein, a break with precedent which raised the question: who else? Roman Polanski, Bill Cosby, Brett Ratner, Spacey and plenty of other big names faced serious accusations. (Woody Allen is not a member and thus cannot be expelled.) Cosby, Ratner and Allen have all denied the accusations against them. Polanski, who pleaded guilty to statutory rape in 1977, has denied other accusations against him.

With the Academy announcing it would establish a code of conduct “to maintain clear standards of workplace behavior” there was talk of cleaning house, of a purge. A petition sprang up to ban Casey Affleck from presenting the best actress award because of harassment allegations against him, which he has denied.

Now, however, awards season seems back on track.

Cameron Bossert, the New York-based director who launched the Affleck petition, abruptly ended it last week after drawing 20,000 signatures. “There was a backlash,” he told the Guardian. “I shut it down because I realised it was perhaps a clumsy way of taking action, of telling women I believe you, I hear you.”

Some online critics said it was unfair to pick on Affleck because the allegations remain unproven. Others accused Bossert – unfairly, he said – of seeking attention. “For me it was a big lesson in unintended consequences. I was afraid the backlash would make women feel more discouraged from coming forward.”

There is still a question mark over Affleck’s role at the Oscars. Asked if the actor would present the award, the Academy’s CEO, Dawn Hudson, told PopSugar: “We’re giving thought to all of this.” The Academy and Affleck’s representatives did not respond to requests for comment.

Despite snowballing responses to the harassment scandals – a new startup to let victims make anonymous reports, packed education seminars, the class-action lawsuit against Weinstein companies – there has been little pressure on the Academy to expel more members. “I think it’ll be more or less contained to Weinstein,” Stone said.

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Questions about harassment will pepper celebrities on the red carpet, and the Oscars will probably include a segment about it, but don’t expect more than that, said the awards blogger. “I don’t think they’ll touch it otherwise. They’ll try to keep the show going. The reason they’re putting it on is for ratings and they don’t want to bum everyone out.”

Licata, the awards strategist, said Ridley Scott’s decision to reshoot Spacey’s All the Money in the World scenes with Christopher Plummer showed just how seriously the industry wished to protect award-contenders from contamination.

“Campaigners are keenly aware of what’s swirling around them but you can’t stop and get too involved with all that conversation. You need to do the work – to take care of your talent, your movies, so they get recognised.”