Alyssa Milano on Running for Political Office: ‘It’s Something That I Think About’
By Rachel Yang
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Alyssa Milano is an actress, activist, producer, and former singer, and the “Charmed” star might add politician to her plate.
When asked about a possible bid for political office at the BlogHer Health Conference In Los Angeles on Friday, she said, “It’s something that I think about.”
“It’s not much different than what I’m doing now,” said Milano, who has played an important role in bringing the #MeToo movement to Hollywood. “I’d really love the staff. I’m doing this by myself now. I want that person where I’m like, ‘Can you talk to me about immigration in a way that I don’t have to go through so much research?’”
“I would love it in that respect, but I don’t even know what trajectory looks like. Do I start on a state, local level? If anybody has any ideas, tweet me,” Milano continued. “2028? Maybe. It’s something that I think about, for sure.”
Milano also sounded off on issues related to #MeToo, white privilege, and what to do about men who have sexually harassed or abused people but continue to find work. Just yesterday, Variety reported that “X-Men” director Bryan Singer, despite facing new accusations of sexual assault and misconduct, remains attached to direct Millennium Film’s upcoming “Red Sonja” movie.
Milano acknowledged that it “might be an unpopular thing to say,” but that fighting for women’s rights includes “figuring out what the next step is for men that have been accused of sexual misconduct and abuse.”
“Those men aren’t just going to go away. Other companies are going to hire them, so what are we going to do to make sure that those companies actually have some protocol in place so that the women that also work in those other companies feel safe?” she remarked. “Let’s focus on that. What’s the policy for men who have been accused of things that come back to a different job? I mean, we can’t put them all on an island, and say, ‘Yeah, they’ll be fine.’”
In response to a question about disagreement within Time’s Up or #MeToo, Milano said that “there’s no perfect movement.”
“I always say ‘sh—’s going to get broken.’ There’s no perfect ideal movement, there’s no perfect ideal political party, so really for me it’s always been about what do I believe in, and how do I stick to that,” she said. “We get so caught up in this tribal mentality that we all have to believe the same thing and say the same thing. It’s OK to want the same thing but to go about it in a different way.”
She also said she’s unafraid of criticism of women’s movements, and that it can actually be productive.
“I get that question about #MeToo all the time: ‘What do you think about the backlash of the #MeToo movement?” Milano said. “I’m always like, ‘bring it.’ Because that’s where we talk about it. That’s where we keep the conversation going.”
When SHE Media CEO and moderator Samantha Skey asked Milano about pushback against #MeToo and Time’s Up for being too elite and white, Milano acknowledged the responsibility for activists to fight for marginalized and disenfranchised women.
“As white women, if we’re not fighting for every woman, we’re not going to get this done,” she responded. “It really comes down to those of us with privilege and those of us with white privilege to take care of other people that don’t have a voice.”
When it comes to achieving equity across industries, Milano said people need to do just one simple thing.
“So easy, this is not hard! You have to hire more women, you’ll have to promote more women into positions of power,” she said. “You have to give more women opportunity, you have to mentor more women. Equal pay will come when everything else is lifted.”
Milano made an additional announcement that she is writing a children’s series of four books called “Hope,” about a 7-year-old girl who’s an activist. It will be released through Scholastic around November this year, Milano added.
“We’re not a pushing a political ideology,” Milano emphasized. “Just more how important it is to be kind and good and stand up for other people.”
