An open letter to James Woods published in Teen Vogue magazineactress and director Amber Tamblyn has accused her fellow performer of trying to seduce her when she was 16 years old. The letter comes after a brief Twitter war between Woods, Tamblyn and actor Armie Hammer.
The fire began on September 10 when Woods, whose conservatism is widely known in the press, criticized Hammer's upcoming film Call Me by Your Name. In the film, Hammer plays a 24-year-old who becomes romantically involved with a 17-year-old. Woods tweeted, “As they quietly break down the last barriers of decency,” using the hashtag “NAMBLA,” referring to the North American Man-Boy Love Association, a controversial pedophile and pederasty advocacy organization. It remains to be seen whether Woods would have problems with the film if it featured a heterosexual couple with a significant age difference.
While they are slowly tearing down the last barriers of decency. #NAMBLA https://t.co/WqAnYxB604
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) September 11, 2017
Hammer responded the next day, tweeting: “Didn't you date a 19 year old when you were 60?”
Weren't you dating a 19 year old guy when you were 60……?
— Armie Hammer (@armiehammer) September 11, 2017
Hammer is about 95 percent here: Woods began dating 19-year-old Ashley Madison in 2007, when he was 59, not 60 (big difference, we know). The couple split in 2013, and then he met 20-year-old Kristen Bogess. He was 66.
Tamblyn chimed in to say Woods tried to pick her up in a diner parking lot when she was 16, and even posted a screenshot of a text message with a friend who was with her that night, corroborating the story.
http://twitter.com/ambertamblyn/status/907331400713478144
http://twitter.com/ambertamblyn/status/907610618353434624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_ url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.teenvogue.com%2Fstory%2Famber-tamblyn-open-letter-james-woods
Woods immediately linked this to a liberal attack on his conservatism, accusing Tamblyn of lying. Swell.
All this inspired Tamblyn to write a powerful letter addressed to Woods. published by Teen Vogue. In it, Tamblyn seriously and indelibly addresses Wood's defensive stance, calling it a “teachable moment” before moving on to the personal details of the night in question. “Since you just called me a liar, I will now call you a silencer. I see your gas light and now I will raise you to the scorched earth,” she says.
Tamblyn's detailed account of the meeting includes an honest admission that Woods probably didn't know who she was. She was just another girl, which is how Tamblyn connects her personal story to a narrative of sexual aggressiveness toward underage women. She then notes that survivors are often asked to provide evidence of an event that was witnessed only by the aggressor and the victim.
“The saddest part of this story,” she writes, “isn't even about me, but about universal women's history. A dangerous nation about not believing women first, above all else. Asking them to confirm first, or provide evidence first, or make sure we're not wrong first, or consider the consequences of speaking out first, or let men have their say first, or just let your sanity come last first.”
Tamblyn concludes by asking Woods to take a hard look at himself. “So with hope, Mr. Woods, I ask you to go within yourself now and ask yourself the hardest questions. The sinister unconscious things… the archetypal things of masculinity… the most treasured things of the id.” Despite this, Tamblyn has no hope for his rehabilitation. “Are you and your experiences with women and girls part of the problem, Mr. Woods?” she asks. “Go now, look in the mirror and ask yourself if it's true. Come on, I'll wait. But I won't hold my breath.”
Woods has not yet responded.