Harvey Weinstein

#MeToo: Actress Asks If Others Have Been Abused, Starts Viral Hashtag

Alyssa Milano said she got the idea from a friend, who said the hashtag "might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem"

Actress Alyssa Milano is getting thousands of responses on Twitter to her request that people reply to her on the social network with "me too" if they have been sexually harassed or assaulted.

As of early Monday, the tweet from 44-year-old Milano had more than 29,000 comments, more than 21,000 likes and more than 10,000 retweets. She received responses with the trending #metoo hashtag from "Will and Grace" star Debra Messing and Anna Paquin, the Oscar-winning actress from New Zealand.

Many of the replies have come from people not in Hollywood's circle, and some have offered dramatic details of their stories.

Milano said she got the idea from a friend, who said the hashtag "might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem."

In another tweet that links to a blog post, Milano, who was one of the stars of the long-running shows "Who's the Boss" and "Charmed," wrote the following about film producer Harvey Weinstein and the growing sexual misconduct allegations against him: "While I am sickened and angered over the disturbing accusations of Weinstein's sexual predation and abuse of power, I'm happy - ecstatic even - that it has opened up a dialogue around the continued sexual harassment, objectification and degradation of women."

Weinstein is accused of varying degrees of sexual misconduct by more than 40 women, including Milano's "Charmed" co-star Rose McGowan. He has denied any nonconsensual sexual relations.

Harvey Weinstein, the Hollywood producer at the center of a sexual abuse scandal, has been a big political contributor in recent years. These are his largest contributions since 1997.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
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