Alyssa Milano is being bullied and abused. Enough is enough.
The constant and denigrating abuse inflicted on Alyssa Milano is a matter that cannot and will not be ignored. Anyone who has had anything to do with the #Metoo movement is or should be aware that it was Alyssa Milano who put the spark to the #Metoo inferno with the tweet she posted in October 2017.
Alyssa Milano has one of the larger followings on Twitter and the impact of her tweet has since reverberated across countless lives. It has also made Alyssa a prime target for any troll bully on Twitter who has a grievance and what is being inflicted on her is totally unacceptable.
This is especially true as a range of individuals, who care nothing for sexual assault survivors, have been using the #metoo movement as a weapon to denigrate a woman who has done nothing wrong.
These people are largely driven by political agendas and in many cases the normal human failings of spite and envy. At the time of this writing there are people leveling false accusations most vile against Alyssa, even as she battles what could amount to a life threatening illness.
Despite this illness, Alyssa is campaigning on the Covid-19 threat and has even gone so far as to demonstrate her hair loss as part of that campaign. As any woman and many of us men know, a woman's struggle with hair loss is a deeply emotional experience.
So what do we see while Alyssa is fighting for what might actually be her life not to mention the potential for suffering Covid related long term health conditions?
What we see here is a prime example of the nastiness inflicted routinely on a woman whose crime it seems is simply to exist and have an opinion. When I challenged this champion for sexual abuse victims everywhere to demonstrate his own efforts, he responded with this.
I expect this is the bit where survivors everywhere fall to our knees and thank God that such a force of activism has stepped forward to save us. What integrity, what courage, what commitment. The rapist's simply don't stand a chance. Yeah OK.
What I see is a grandstander parasisting on another person's high profile platform and denigrating her at a time of significant distress and suffering for the woman in question.
It is clear that this person is politically motivated and completely uncaring when it comes to the #metoo movement right up until a chance to use it for political agenda purposes was perceived.
This person actually holds the view that they can speak for this movement and tell one our most high profile activists she has betrayed OUR cause? Excuse me? Are we to just sit here and remain silent in the face of such an insult to all of us?
What we see here is a cynical manipulation in the form of bullying being inflicted on a survivor and activist who has, as far as I can see, never done anything to hurt anyone. I see a woman being treated as if she is public property.
I see a survivor who is being denied her consummate right, that extends well beyond any constitution, to act reasonably according to her own judgement and beliefs.
To inflict that denial we see individuals like the specious troll above, try to create situations based on lies and demagoguery to coerce high profile individuals such as Alyssa Milano into supporting whatever issue is fizzing in her troll tormentor's heads.
These demands are forced on women like Alyssa Milano in the face of the stark reality that acquiescing to said demands would result in highly detrimental personal outcomes for the targeted high profile. In Alyssa Milano's case there have been concerted and ongoing efforts to try and weaponise the #metoo movement against her.
Essentially these people are taking our situations and trying to manipulate and shame us into attacking an individual who has done a great deal for a large number of people.
An important point to note here is that Alyssa Milano has made a lot of people happy and provided those people with hope, comfort and often a voice they would not otherwise have had.
I then consider what our example troll has achieved in life that has brought so much happiness to so many people and it is fair to say there is a significant discrepancy in the outcome of the applicable comparison.
The attacks on Alyssa Milano are not confined to those from the Bernie Bro and MAGAT cheap seats. There is one within in our movement who routinely tries to inflict injury on her own sister.
At the time of this writing it just so happens that Rose McGowan has taken it upon herself to once again publicly attack Alyssa Milano who's only sin that I can see is to be too kind and gracious to a woman who acts so rabidly towards her.
McGowan posted a tweet claiming the Democrats had done nothing for a range of people and Alyssa Milano responded with a tweet thread detailing all the things that the Democrats have done on public record which was a substantial list.
McGowan responded in the media with vicious wholly unfounded ad hominem attacks. I note that this is a tendency embraced by a certain Donald Trump where facts are responded to with vitriol and abuse.
From the time I arrived and joined Rose Army in February 2018 (which ended with Rose Army's mutiny in Sept 2018) I have heard whispers such as Alyssa Milano is a fraud and a fake whose ties to the industry made her highly suspect. It is becoming clear to me where the source of those whispers can be found.
As a result of that campaign I was initially suspicious that there was truth in these claims due to the badly misplaced faith and loyalty I held for Rose McGowan. More fool me. Yet at the same time I was impressed by Alyssa's commitment to her activism and over time I realised that there was never any substance to the claims being made about her.
I am not here to argue that Alyssa Milano is a perfect human being by any means and I am confident that Alyssa would not want me to argue such an absurdity. What I am also sure about is this. There is no evidence of any kind to indicate that Alyssa Milano has ever harmed survivors interests in any material way or sold us out.
What I also see is Rose McGowan acting in a manner that has been tolerated for far too long. There can be no more excuses for her behavior and no more justifications provided for her indefensible actions.
Rose McGowan lost the right to be an activist for anyone apart from herself when she falsely and viciously defiled and degraded the woman who called Rose friend in public because the documented sociopath Rain Dove "told her some stuff".
Not content with inflicting one sociopath on the movement, McGowan now enables another defiler, Tara Reade. McGowan's toxicity and malice are direct threats to the #metoo movement.
I know the temptation is to try and excuse and rationalise Rose's behavior and I can testify to the fact I was one who once did that more than most. However I now know that McGowan is absolutely being abusive and bullying to the Silence Breakers generally.
I know that McGowan is on record making false allegations that had no basis in fact that almost cost a woman, who once loved McGowan, her life. I know that McGowan is a demagogue who is a threat to all survivors and on the basis of all these facts it is clear that the movement has the obligation to put McGowan's abuse to an end.
Right now McGowan, through the agency of Tara Reade, is trying to derail both the Democrats election campaign and the remnants of the Silence Breaker movement based on her whim and her own personal agenda whatever that may happen to be at any given moment.
Alyssa Milano did an incredibly brave thing when she came out in support of Biden, knowing only to well what she was letting herself in for when she did I am sure. To my mind this removes any doubt that Alyssa is exactly who and what she says she is.
No grifter or coward puts themselves on the line like that. Alyssa Milano is the real deal and one of this movement's greatest assets. Conversely, Rose McGowan is an abusive bully that needs to sit down and shut up for once and for all.
McGowan had her chance and she blew it. The movement has obligations to protect its activists who are doing the good work and it needs to put those who work against the common interest in their place.
Until we do so, survivors globally will continue to suffer while we toil under the weight of demagoguery and the bullshit that people like McGowan and Reade bring to all our lives.
The fact that this movement needs to take on board and respond to is this. By condoning McGowan's behavior we are seen by those who matter, such as juries, law enforcement and the wider public, as sharing her values and attitudes.
It is time for every person in this movement to decide for once and for all if that is helpful or harmful to the wider survivor interest.
Note:
Alyssa Milano had no input into this article.