Actresses May Not Wear Black At Sunday’s Oscars, Time’s Up Movement To ‘Stand Down’ At The Award Show

Hollywood award shows have consistently followed an all-black dress code since the launch of Time’s Up campaign back in January for the Golden Globes. But on Sunday, fans could be seeing a bit of color at the 2018 Academy Awards red carpet.

Leaders of the Time’s Up movement announced that they will “stand down” for the upcoming Oscars, the Los Angeles Times reported. According to the members of the organization, they want to make it clear to the public that their cause, which is to stand with victims of sexual harassment and assault, goes beyond simply wearing black at social functions.

“We are not an awards show protest group,” Ava DuVernay, filmmaker and member of Time’s Up, explained.

“We stand down this time.”

The women behind the massively successful movement decided this in a meeting on Thursday, March 1. Among those in attendance were top actresses, directors, and writers in Hollywood including Laura Dern, Tessa Thompson, and Shonda Rhimes.

“It’s really important that you know that Time’s Up is not about the red carpet. And those women you saw on the red carpet representing Time’s Up [at the Globes] are now off the red carpet working their butts off being activists,” Shonda Rhimes, showrunner of the hit series Grey’s Anatomy, added.

The Academy Awards on Sunday will round up the award season in the entertainment industry. Though Time’s Up has decided not to protest as a group at the awards show, the Academy will reportedly still dedicate a portion of the program to support the movement.

“There’s a moment that’s been carved out,” DuVernay confirmed, as per Variety.

Within the first 60 days since its launch, the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund has already raised a total of $21 million, Deadline reported. More than 1,700 women from various industries have come forward with their own stories and filed cases against their sexual offenders. The group will begin dispersing the fund by next week.

Meanwhile, the issue of sexual misconduct is still a much-talked-about topic within the industry. On Sunday’s Oscars, it is expected that people will be talking about allegations against Ryan Seacrest, specifically. The E! correspondent, famous for hosting the network’s red carpet events, is currently under fire for allegedly harassing a former stylist.

According to Time’s Up, their members will be going to the Oscars as individuals. And though people will be seeing actresses in colorful gowns this time, they can still express their protest in their own way.

“I’d hate for this whole thing to become a sound bite about Ryan Seacrest, I really would,” DuVernay stated.

“It’s up to the individuals that are going to be there to do what they’re gonna do. There’s not an official Time’s Up act about this… We support people who are bearing witness to what has happened to them, but the bottom line is if you’re on the carpet, you make your individual decision about it.”

The 90th Academy Awards will air on ABC on Sunday, March 4, at 8 p.m. ET. Jimmy Kimmell is hosting the show for the second year in a row.