Blythe Danner and Martha Plimpton Criticize Responses to the Weinstein Scandal

Two accomplished ladies of the stage. Blythe Danner and Martha Plimpton, have issued letters to the editor of the New York Times this afternoon expressing their dismay at pieces that have been published this week regarding the sexual assault scandal surrounding media mogul, Harvey Weinstein.

In her letter, Ms. Danner rushes to the defense of her daughter, Gwyneth Paltrow, who famously won an Academy Award for her role in the Weinstein-produced theatre drama, Shakespeare in Love.

Disputing wording in which writer Maureen Dowd implies that Ms. Paltrow's professional relationship with the producer was the result of willful ignorance of his behavior, she writes:

"I cannot remain silent while Maureen Dowd disparages my daughter, Gwyneth Paltrow, for the manner in which she chose to handle Harvey Weinstein's attempt at a sexual encounter when she was 22... Gwyneth did not "put aside her qualms to become 'the first lady of Miramax' back then, as Ms. Dowd would have it. She continued to hold her own and insist that Mr. Weinstein treat her with respect. She had learned from her father, the producer and director Bruce Paltrow, how to stand up for herself. Bruce received the first Diversity Award from the Directors Guild for helping women and minorities in our business. His daughter wasn't the only woman he taught to fight for herself."

In a separate letter, Tony Award-winner, Martha Plimpton, pens her own response to a controversial op-ed from actress, Mayim Bialik, asserting the notion that sexual harassment and assault are not mutually exclusive to sartorial modesty and physical attractiveness. She writes:

"With all respect to Mayim Bialik on her considerable accomplishments, the positioning of sexual assault and harassment in the entertainment industry as a special club for pretty girls is offensive. Sexual assault is not about beauty standards, or body image, or the shape of your nose. In fact, sexual assault and harassment have nothing to do with how women feel about themselves, whether at work or not, at all."

See their full letters here.