Golden Globes 2018: Emma Watson and Meryl Streep among actresses to take activists as their date

Meryl Streep, Emma Stone, and Emma Watson are among the eight actresses who brought activists as their plus ones to Sunday night’s [7 January] Golden Globes.

Last night’s ceremony was more political than ever before as celebrity guests united by wearing black to show their support of the Time’s Up initiative, which was launched to end sexual harassment in Hollywood in light of the Harvey Weinstein scandal.

Meryl and co. went one step further by bringing racial and gender justice activists to the event, with Streep walking the red carpet alongside the director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Ai-jen Poo.

Speaking to E! News, Meryl said: “She and I are so happy to be here in this particular moment.

“I think that people are aware now of a power imbalance and it’s something that leads to abuse… We feel sort of emboldened in this particular moment to stand together in a thick black line dividing then from now.”

Harry Potter star Emma Watson was joined by Marai Larasi, the executive director of Imkann, which is an organisation “aimed at responding to and preventing violence against black minoritized women and girls”.

Speaking about the Time’s Up movement, Emma told Variety: “This issue doesn’t just affect women in Hollywood, this issues is affecting women everywhere in every country around the world. It is global, it is systemic, it is structural.”

Amy Poehler had Restaurant Opportunities Centers United co-founder, Saru Jayaraman, accompany her as her date, with the website aiming to make fair wages and safe workspaces for restaurant workers, with Jayaraman previously arguing that fair wages are “key” to fighting harassment within the restaurant industry.

In addition, Emma Stone was accompanied by tennis icon Billie Jean King, who she had portrayed in ‘Battle of the Sexes’ last year, Michelle Williams by #MeToo founder Tarana Burke, and Susan Sarandon by political commentator and independent journalist Rosa Clemente.

Big Little Lies’ star Laura Dern took the head of the National Farmworkers Women’s Alliance, Mónica Ramírez, as her plus one, telling E!: “I’m very, very excited to be here with Mónica Ramírez.

“I reached out to her to say that she stood with all the 700,000 women farm workers in solidarity for the women in our industry who were brave enough to speak out about sexual harassment and assault.”

Finally, Shailene Woodley was joined by Calina Lawrence, a member of Washington state’s Suquamish Tribe, Shailene tweeted: “So honoured and moved and grateful to be walking this life hand in hand with my dear sister @Calina_Lawrence.

“Today we will walk the red carpet at the #GoldenGlobes together to hold the space for both solidarity and accountability on the imbalance of power between women and men.”

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