Cate Blanchett has warned that Hollywood swiftly shut down the momentum of the MeToo movement before it could address deep-rooted gender bias within the entertainment industry. Speaking with moderator Didier Allouch at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, the two-time Oscar winner revealed how quickly the anti-harassment movement faded from public attention.
“There are many individuals with platforms who can speak up safely about experiences of harassment, and the so-called ‘average woman on the street’ is using MeToo. Why does that get shut down?” Blanchett asked, according to Variety.
“What [the movement] revealed is a systemic layer of abuse,” she added. “This issue isn’t limited to our industry but exists across all sectors. If you don’t identify a problem, you can’t solve it.”
Blanchett lamented that the movement had been “killed very quickly.” This abrupt slowdown directly reflects ongoing gender disparities behind the scenes in Hollywood.
She noted that she still conducts headcounts every morning on set, with the same ratio persisting: 10 women and 75 men. “I love men, but the jokes become repetitive,” Blanchett explained. “You just have to brace yourself slightly — it gets boring for everyone in a homogeneous workplace. It affects the work.”
Julianne Moore backed up these claims during her own Kering Women in Motion Talk at the festival. The Oscar winner recalled being on a set around the 2016 U.S. presidential election, where she was one of only two women present.
“I remember being on a set not long ago,” Moore said. “We were both devastated after Hillary Clinton lost the election. And I said, ‘Look around the room — we’re the only ones here.'”
Moore acknowledged some progress over her career, noting that while it was uncommon to see women on crews when she began, she has observed increased gender representation.
Blanchett noted that this pushback isn’t new. In 2013, while promoting “Blue Jasmine,” she warned that a wave of global conservatism threatened the progress made for women’s equality and that many gains had been reversed.
The current gridlock stands in stark contrast to the high-profile activism seen at Cannes in 2018. As festival jury president, Blanchett led a historic protest with 82 women — all female directors who had ever competed at Cannes — climbing the steps of the Palais des Festivals alongside Kristen Stewart, Lea Seydoux, Ava DuVernay, and Agnes Varda.
“Women are not a minority in the world,” Blanchett stated during that march. “As women, we all face our own unique challenges, but we stand together as a symbol of our determination to progress.”
