Tina Tchen, the president of Time’s Up, says she was inadvertently enlisted in an effort to discredit one of outgoing New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) accusers.
In a statement on Wednesday, Tchen said, “I am sorry. As someone working to combat sexual harassment and sexual violence, support survivors, and advance gender equity, the last thing I want any of my actions to do is to cause added pain or harm to survivors.”
New York State Attorney General Letitia James (D) released a report earlier this month that found that Cuomo sexually harassed several women. The report also found that Tchen and Roberta Kaplan, the former chairwoman of the organization, provided input on the drafting of an op-ed meant to discredit former Cuomo aide Lindsey Boylan, who accused the governor of sexual harassment.
Tchen continued, “I also know that the news and events of the past week hurt, triggered, and disappointed many of you. TIME’S UP was born because survivors decided that enough was enough and exposed the pervasiveness of long-standing, hidden sexual harassment and abuse in the work place.”
She noted that Time’s Up worked with Cuomo in 2019 to pass the New York Safety Agenda, which “enacted major improvements in the state laws on sexual harassment, sexual assault, and sexual abuse.”
She continued:
“When our then-Board Chair Robbie Kaplan contacted me about actions in Cuomo’s office, I responded believing that, as they had been in the past, his office was interested in doing the right thing for women. The facts revealed in the Attorney General’s findings — that the letter was drafted by Cuomo as part of an ongoing effort to undermine the survivors — were completely unknown to me until the investigation’s report was released. I would never participate in or condone, in any way, such an attack or strategy.”
She added, “I believe we were used as cover for heinous actions going on behind the scenes and, more recently, being used to distract and distort the actual legal and moral violations that occurred. But that in no way excuses my oversight and mistakes in failing to protect survivors and our work, and I recognize that similar scenarios may have played out in the past that I failed to see for what they were. For that, again, I am profoundly sorry.”
Finally, Tchen committed to “work openly in a collaborative process with our staff, survivors, our board, partners, allies, critics and the entire community that’s worked with us from the start” to earn the trust “of the communities I’ve let down.”
Kaplan resigned earlier this week, as IJR reported.
According to its website, Time’s Up “insists upon a world where everyone is safe and respected at work. A world where women have an equal shot at success and security. A world where no one lives in fear of sexual harassment or assault.”