Newton went on to explain that, years later at a film festival, a producer drunkenly told her, “‘Oh, Thandie, I’ve seen you recently!’ And he lurched away looking really shocked that he’d said that.”

When the Mission Impossible II star’s husband asked the man for clarification he explained that “the director was showing that audition tape to his friends after poker games at his house. And they would all get off on it,” Newton said.

Newton’s story underlines an important point; even now, in 2016, there are many people out there who choose to explain sexual crimes away as ‘banter’ or ‘just another part of the job’.

Now, with so many men and women coming forward to speak out against sexual assault in Hollywood and the professional sports arena, it is time for those who are enabling these abusers by normalising their behaviour to confront the problem that they have created.

For confidential and free support about rape or sexual assault, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline 24/7 at 800.656.HOPE. You can also IM anonymously at online.rainn.org.

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