Terry Gilliam under fire after saying white men are 'blamed for everything that's wrong with the world'

He also claimed the #metoo movement is a "witch hunt"
Terry Gilliam claimed the #metoo movement is a witch hunt
PA
Stephanie Cockroft5 January 2020
The Weekender

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Terry Gilliam has prompted backlash after claiming the #MeToo movement is a "witch hunt" and that he is tired of white men being "blamed for everything that is wrong with the world".

Discussing the campaign against sexual harassment that was prompted by the dozens of allegations against film producer Harvey Weinstein in 2017, the director and Monty Python star said "there's no room for modern masculinity", and that he believes "we're living in a time where there's always somebody responsible for your failures, and I don't like this."

He told The Independent: "I want people to take responsibility and not just constantly point a finger at somebody else, saying, 'You've ruined my life'."

Talking about #MeToo, which has been widely used online in recent years to highlight the prevalence of sexual misconduct in the workplace, Gilliam, 79, said it is "a witch hunt".

He added: "I really feel there were a lot of people, decent people, or mildly irritating people, who were getting hammered. That's wrong. I don't like mob mentality. These were ambitious adults."

Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin, John Cleese, Eric Idle, John Oliver, and Terry Jones pose for a photo backstage at the "Monty Python And The Holy Grail" special screening in 2015
Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images

Of Weinstein's alleged victims, he said that he feels sympathy for them, adding: "But then, Hollywood is full of very ambitious people who are adults and they make choices.

"We all make choices, and I could tell you who did make the choice and who didn't."

Gilliam later said: "I understand that men have had more power longer, but I'm tired, as a white male, of being blamed for everything that is wrong with the world."

The filmmaker, known for films including Time Bandits, 12 Monkeys and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, was criticised for his words by feminist political party The Women's Equality Party on Twitter.

Film producer Harvey Weinstein leaves New York Supreme Court
REUTERS

"And we're tired of white men calling 'witch hunt' and refusing to examine the societal privileges that afford them so much scope to behave poorly without consequence," they wrote

The website PinkNews offered swift condemnation, calling the comments “a feeble attempt to prove that white men are the real victims”.

US filmmaker Ava DuVernay also re-posted one of Gilliam's quotes and tweeted: "Poor thing."

In 2018, the director sparked fury when he described himself as a black lesbian while giving interviews at a film festival in the Czech Republic.

He said: “I no longer want to be a white male, I don’t want to be blamed for everything wrong in the world: I tell the world now I’m a black lesbian … My name is Loretta and I’m a BLT, a black lesbian in transition.”

More than 80 women have accused Weinstein of sexual harassment, and he has pleaded not guilty to sexual assault charges involving two women from 2006 and 2013.

Weinstein denies all accusations of non-consensual sex.

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