Stand with the Rose Army

In the 90s, Film Threat magazine ran a column called “Tales from the Casting Couch.” In the column, actors male and female revealed stories of those in power abusing their positions. It became apparent that the Hollywood casting couch was not just a cliché, but how business was done. The stories in the column varied from actors being propositioned, sexual favors exchanged for roles, and one actress, who was on a popular TV show at the time, revealed that she had been raped. In 1993, Geraldo Rivera dedicated an entire episode of his show to this issue and used the stories contained in Film Threat’s column to illustrate how rampant the problem was in Hollywood.
In other stories, Film Threat magazine exposed the regular practice of using prostitutes to close deals at film markets. (Film Threat was banned from that market for exposing this practice.) And actresses like Traci Lords were celebrated rather than shamed. For all our efforts, Film Threat magazine became a pariah in Hollywood (we kind of still are). And studios denied Film Threat access, though that never stopped us from doing our job. That was the 90s. Unfortunately, nothing has changed. We tried to help then, and we stand with you now.