Actress Alyssa Milano has been criticized for not being more vocal about a sexual assault allegation made against former Vice President Joe Biden.
In March, Tara Reade accused Biden of sexually assaulting her while she was working for him in the Senate in 1993, as IJR reported.
Milano, who is a proponent of the #MeToo movement, penned an op-ed for Deadline on Wednesday in response to some of the criticism she received, “As we started holding politicians and business leaders and celebrities around the world accountable for their actions, it was easy to sort things into their respective buckets: this is wrong, this is right.”
She continued, “Holding people accountable for their actions was not only right, it was just. Except it’s not always so easy, and living in the gray areas is something we’re trying to figure out in the world of social media.”
She also claimed that women are “not allowed anything but the binary extremes” and are “pressured to turn on one another.”
Milano explained why she continues to support Biden:
“It’s not up to women to admonish or absolve perpetrators, or be regarded as complicit when we don’t denounce them. Nothing makes this clearer than the women who are still supporting Joe Biden even with these accusations. Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris, Stacey Abrams, Amy Klobuchar, Nancy Pelosi, and Elizabeth Warren have all endorsed Biden and like me, continue to support him. Because it’s an impossible choice.”
“I still support Joe Biden because I believe that’s the best choice for that future, and again it is not up to women to absolve perpetrators,” she said.
Milano also offered some advice for Biden about the allegation, “I’d advise him to face the allegation head-on, answer every question, and admit any wrongdoing, and to be the example for all men who face these kinds of accusations whether founded or not.”
And, she said she wants Reade’s allegation to be heard, “But I also don’t want her to be fodder for the machine. And I honestly don’t know what’s next.”
“Believing women was never about ‘Believe all women no matter what they say,’ it was about changing the culture of NOT believing women by default. It was about ending the patriarchy’s dangerous drive for self-preservation at all costs, victims be damned.”
Finally, she said he hopes there can be “an honest process of proving out accusations one way or the other.”
Initially, Milano appeared to be publicly silent about the allegation against Biden. However, after a recent report from Business Insider appeared to provide some contemporaneous corroboration for Reade’s allegation, she tweeted that she wants Reade to be heard, as IJR reported.