I've never been a fan of Hollywood awards shows - I find them horribly boring - but I especially avoided them in recent years because they'd become platforms for actors to lecture America on what's wrong with the country. And I just knew...as you did...that the problems they described were probably at their worst IN HOLLYWOOD.
And we were right. The #metoo movement exposed an industry rife with sexual predators being enabled by overt and covert acts by many in the business. And now Hollywood had a problem: how to regain the moral high ground on an issue that DEMANDED they lecture America.
How? Well, an actor could claim they didn't know it was going on. Isn't it funny how the phrase "open secret" has disappeared from most of the reporting of Hollywood's sexual misdeeds? The coastal media understands that the phrase suggested A LOT of people knew about the sexual abuse happening in Tinseltown - which undermines their ability to land interview with celebrities would want to join the #metoo movement.
And that brings us to the awkward exclusive interview on the "Today" show between Savannah Guthrie and Robin Wright. Of course, we're told that Savannah knew nothing of Matt Lauer's horrid reputation at NBC. And Wright, speaking publicity for the first time since co-star Kevin Spacey was fired from their hit Netflix series "House of Cards" after accusations of sexual misconduct, also goes the "I didn't know" route.
We were co-workers, really," she said. "We never socialized outside of work."
She said the cast and crew "were all surprised, of course, and ultimately saddened" by what happened.
She and Spacey were "respectful" and "professional" with each other, but she added that she has not spoken with him since the scandal broke and wouldn't even know how to reach him.
"Kevin and I knew each other between action and cut and in between setups where we would giggle," she said. "I didn't know the man. I knew the incredible craftsman that he is."
I guess it is possible. But that phrase, "open secret," where has it gone?