Sex and the City writer Candace Bushnell has opened up about her #MeToo experiences
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- Holly Bullock
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“These are worldwide problems,” explains the SATC writer. “It’s not one or two men behaving badly here or there.”
Love it or hate it, Sex and the City has influenced a generation. In a revealing new interview, the woman behind the columns discussed feuds, diversity and #MeToo.
Looking for the real-life Carrie Bradshaw? You’ve found her. Candice Bushnell is the former New York Observer dating columnist whose hilariously candid weeklies inspired an empire.
And, following the release of her new memoir, Is There Still Sex in the City?, Bushnell has opened up about her own experiences of sexual politics in nineties Manhattan in a revealing interview with The Independent.
Describing the city as the “Wild West of #MeToo behaviour,” Bushnell recalled the terrifying “touching, grabbing and threats” she experienced during her time in the Big Apple.
“You didn’t have a choice,” she explained. “We’re only realising how awful it was now thanks to the internet, because more people can share their stories and we hear how common they are.”
Bushnell added: “These are worldwide problems. It’s not one or two men behaving badly here or there.”
Sarah Jessica Parker, who played SATC’s Carrie, recently spoke about her own experiences with sexual misconduct, recalling her time as a child actor.
“I think no matter how evolved or how modern I thought I was, I didn’t feel entirely in a position — no matter what my role was on set, I didn’t feel as powerful as the man who was behaving inappropriately” the actor said during a recent interview.
“Which strikes me as just stunning to say out loud, because there were plenty of occasions where it was happening and I was in a different position and I was as powerful.”
SJP continued: “I did go to my agent — because I felt I was no longer able to convey how uncomfortable this was making me, how inappropriate it was. Within hours everything had changed.”
Referring to the unidentified actor, Parker added: “He [the agent] said to them, ‘If this continues, I have sent her a ticket, a one-way ticket out of this city’ — where I was shooting — ‘and she will not be returning.’”
Upsettingly, Bushnell believes that SJP’s experience is far from unique.
“I’m sure that’s the tip of the iceberg,” she said to the Independent. “I’m not saying for her, but I suspect there are hundreds of child actors out there who have experienced that.”
Bushnell also discussed her own relationship with SJP, who she described as “the opposite of Carrie Bradshaw”. “She’s always been with a guy and is very family-orientated. I see her at parties and she’s very nice, but we have different circles,” said the writer.
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