Public records show an organization set up by big-name Hollywood stars to fight sexual harassment spent a significant portion of the donations it received on executive salaries and only a small amount on actual legal costs to assist victims.
The “Time’s Up” organization, led by Reese Witherspoon, Amy Schumer, Brie Larson, and others, raised $3,670,219 in 2018 but spent $1,407,032 on salaries and just $312,001 on their legal defense fund for victims of sexual harassment.
The charity watchdog group Charity Navigator recommends organizations spend 75% of the funding they receive on the stated mission, but Time’s Up spent 38% of their donations on salaries alone.
The charity’s lobbying arm, Time’s Up Now, spent $157,155 on conferences “designed to build community and spark critical conversations about gender equity,” such as a June 2018 retreat to a luxury resort north of Los Angeles.
Tax filings state the mission of Time’s Up Now is “to promote safe, fair and dignified work for women of all kinds. We work to make sure that women are free from harassment and other forms of discrimination on the job, have equal opportunity for economic security and can achieve the highest positions of power wherever they work.”
The legal defense fund was set up to achieve that goal, but the group only spent 22% of their donations on that fund in 2018.
The group also spent $288,007 on advertising, $58,395 on travel, and $112,435 on public relations. While $940,323 was spent on “legal” costs, of which $719,522 went to a lobbying firm that works on Capitol Hill.
“The Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund has provided legal resources about sex harassment at work to over 5,000 people, three-quarters of whom identify as low-paid workers,” a spokeswoman for the organization told the New York Post. “In addition, the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund has committed $11 million dollars in direct legal and public relations support for survivors. While most of the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund-backed cases are ongoing, 86% of the cases that have been resolved have been resolved in favor of the workers the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund supported.”
