Of all the couples that walked the Oscars red carpet together on Sunday night, it’s likely none had the same symbolic significance as Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino. The actresses were among the earliest to come forward with their stories of being sexually harassed by Harvey Weinstein, bringing into stark relief the impact Weinstein had on their careers and on Hollywood at large. Sorvino, who won an Oscar in 1996 for the Weinstein-released Mighty Aphrodite, told The New Yorker she believed that, by turning down Weinstein’s advances, he had actively discouraged other filmmakers from working with her. Judd, who spoke to The New York Times for the first blockbuster story about Weinstein, said at the time, “Women have been talking about Harvey amongst ourselves for a long time, and it’s simply beyond time to have the conversation publicly.” (Weinstein has denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex.)

In December, Peter Jackson told New Zealand’s Stuff that executives at Miramax told him about both Judd and Sorvino, “they were a nightmare to work with and we should avoid them at all costs. This was probably in 1998. At the time, we had no reason to question what these guys were telling us—but in hindsight, I realize that this was very likely the Miramax smear campaign in full swing. I now suspect we were fed false information about both of these talented women—and as a direct result their names were removed from our casting list.”

Sorvino tweeted an emotional response to Jackson’s revelation:

Speaking to Vanity Fair’s Krista Smith on the red carpet, Judd and Sorvino spoke about the goals of the Time‘s Up movement: “I want people to know that this movement isn’t stopping, we’re going forward until we have an equitable and safe world for women,“ Sorvino said:

During the ceremony, Judd will present an award alongside two other women who have accused Weinstein: Annabella Sciorra and Salma Hayek. As Rebecca Keegan reported from the Oscars rehearsals, Sciorra—who claimed to The New Yorker that Weinstein raped her, and that her career suffered as a result—seemed visibly overwhelmed to be onstage.

Though the Time’s Up movement, which announced its presence forcefully with pins and an all-black dress code at the Golden Globes, announced it planned to look beyond the red carpet in its activism, Judd and Sorvino’s united presence was a reminder of how striking, and symbolic, a red carpet appearance can be.

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