10 Famous Women Sound Off On the Fight for Equality in Hollywood — and Beyond

"At one point, I asked for $5,000 more than him just on principle, because the show is Grey’s Anatomy and I’m Meredith Grey. They wouldn’t give it to me. And I could have walked away, so why didn’t I? It’s my show; I’m the number one. I’m sure I felt what a lot of these other actresses feel: Why should I walk away from a great part because of a guy? You feel conflicted but then you figure, 'I’m not going to let a guy drive me out of my own house.' "

— Ellen Pompeo, on why she accepted what she felt was an unfair pay structure on Grey's Anatomy, to The Hollywood Reporter

"This has been a really hard week for women in Hollywood, for women all over the world, for men in a lot of situations and a lot of industries that are forced to remember and relive a lot of ugly truths. I have my own experiences that have come back to me very vividly, and I found it really hard to sleep, hard to think, hard to communicate. A lot of the feelings I’ve been having about anxiety, about being honest, the guilt for not speaking up earlier or taking action. I’ve had multiple experiences of harassment and sexual assault, and I don't speak about them very often. But after hearing all the stories these past few days and hearing these brave women speak up tonight, the things that we're kind of told to sweep under the rug and not talk about, it's made me want to speak up and speak up loudly because I felt less alone this week than I've ever felt in my entire career."

— Reese Witherspoon, on feeling empowered by women speaking out about their own experiences with sexual assault and harassment, at the Elle Women in Hollywood event

"The changes we are witnessing is being driven by the powerful sound of new voices, of different voices, of our voices, joining together in a mighty chorus that is finally saying, 'Time's up.' And we work together to make sure the next 90 years empower these limitless possibilities of equality, diversity, inclusion, intersectionality. That's what this year has promised us."

— Ashley Judd, on the reckoning that's happening in Hollywood, at the 2018 Oscars

“Many of us were taught not to tattle. It was a culture of silencing and that was normalized. I urge all of us to not only support survivors and bystanders who are brave enough to tell their truth, but to promote restorative justice. May we teach our children that speaking out without the fear of retribution is our culture’s new north star.”

— Laura Dern, on the need to change the conversation about coming forward, at the 2018 Golden Globes

"Until there is equality in our industry, with men and women having the same value in every aspect of it, our community will continue to be a fertile ground for predators. I am grateful for everyone who is listening to our experiences. I hope that adding my voice to the chorus of those who are finally speaking out will shed light on why it is so difficult, and why so many of us have waited so long. Men sexually harassed because they could. Women are talking today because, in this new era, we finally can."

– Salma Hayek, on why she decided to speak out about being abused by Harvey Weinstein, in the New York Times

"Beyond raising awareness, how is this going to help the waitress, the farm worker, the factory worker, the caregiver? How does what's happening in the room with Time's Up affect the people who are watching this right now? There's so many men and women now who are uncomfortable in their workplaces because of all that's been uncovered and aren't just really sure how to be. What do we say to them?"

— Oprah Winfrey, on the need to end harassment and abuse in every industry, not just Hollywood, at a Time's Up meeting

"I feel energized. I feel empowered. I feel not alone. And that’s a great feeling to have."

— Eva Longoria, on how women coming together to support Time's Up at the 2018 Golden Globes made her feel, to InStyle

"I feel I know my worth, and I feel like I work to keep it that way. Because I didn’t fight hard enough. It was my own mentality that led me to believe that I didn’t deserve to be paid equally.”

— Jennifer Lawrence, on learning to fight for equal pay, to 60 Minutes

“This is about power dynamics. It’s about imbalance of power that makes people unsafe, and we need to start addressing it much wider than any one perpetrator, any one predator. It’s about pay equity, it’s about being safe in our jobs, it’s about being able to access to opportunity to rise up the ranks so that we’re represented in leadership, it’s about so much.”

— America Ferrera, on the necessity of Time's Up across the globe, on the Today show

“It’s amazing because I have experienced the full spectrum [of harassment]. But I think that, for me, what is amazing is that my experiences are not unique, the experiences of my friends are not unique, the experiences of my colleagues are not unique. This issue is so systemic, structural."

— Emma Watson, on the pervasiveness of harassment in Hollywood, to Variety