Earlier this week, Amber Tamblyn found herself at the centre of a Twitter war of words, after stepping into an argument about ages of consent to remind outspoken conservative actor James Woods of the time he hit on her at the age of 16.
She wrote an angry open letter to Woods, accusing him of hypocrisy and abusing his position of power “because [he] can get away with it”, and has since followed up with an editorial for the New York Times, recalling an instance of harassment early in her career.
In her Times piece, Tamblyn wrote that, at the age of 21, while starring on a popular TV series – presumably Joan Of Arcadia – she went to a producer’s office to complain about the scary behaviour of a particular person on set. She wrote:
A crew member had kept showing up to my apartment after work unannounced, going into my trailer while I wasn’t in it, and staring daggers at me from across the set. I liked him at first. He was very sweet and kind in the beginning. We flirted a bit on set. But I was in a relationship. And liking someone certainly didn’t merit the kind of behavior he was exhibiting, which was making me feel unsafe.
She wrote of her fear and embarrassment at coming forward with the accusation, and her frustration with the producer’s seemingly-ambivalent response: “Well, there are two sides to every story.”
Her recent interaction with Woods – who still denies hitting on a the 16-year-old Tamblyn and her friend, and inviting them to Las Vegas – sent her mind back to this encounter in the producer’s office.
She said that, throughout her career, she has consistently been afraid of standing up to men in positions of power, worrying about the repercussions, and added:
For women in America who come forward with stories of harassment, abuse and sexual assault, there are not two sides to every story, however noble that principle might seem. Women do not get to have a side. They get to have an interrogation. Too often, they are questioned mercilessly about whether their side is legitimate. Especially if that side happens to accuse a man of stature, then that woman has to consider the scrutiny and repercussions she’ll be subjected to by sharing her side.
She also managed to get in a pretty solid burn to those accusing her of seeking attention, saying: “why would I choose the guy from Scary Movie 2 to help my stature when I’m already married to the other guy from Scary Movie 2?” (Amber Tamblyn married Scary Movie 2 and Arrested Development star David Cross in 2012).
You can read her whole essay here, and it’s pretty powerful stuff.
