Artist and activist Rose McGowan on Saturday tweeted criticism of Meryl Streep, indicating the actress had been willing to work with producer Harvey Weinstein for years after he had gained a reputation for being a sexual predator and saying that the plan to protest sexual misconduct in Hollywood by wearing black to the Golden Globes rang hollow.

In the tweet, which has since been deleted, McGowan said, “Actresses, like Meryl Streep, who happily worked for The Pig Monster, are wearing black @goldenglobes in a silent protest. YOUR SILENCE is THE problem. You’ll accept a fake award breathlessly & affect no real chance. I despise your hypocrisy. Maybe you should all wear Marchesa.”

In a statement sent to HuffPost by her publicist, Leslee Dart, Streep said:

“It hurt to be attacked by Rose McGowan in banner headlines this weekend, but I want to let her know I did not know about Weinstein’s crimes, not in the 90s when he attacked her, or through subsequent decades when he proceeded to attack others.

I wasn’t deliberately silent. I didn’t know. I don’t tacitly approve of rape. I didn’t know.  I don’t like young women being assaulted. I didn’t know this was happening.

“I don’t know where Harvey lives, nor has he ever been to my home.

I have never in my life been invited to his hotel room.

I have been to his office once, for a meeting with Wes Craven for “Music of the Heart” in 1998.

HW distributed movies I made with other people.

HW was not a filmmaker; he was often a producer, primarily a marketer of films made by other people- some of them great, some not great. But not every actor, actress, and director who made films that HW distributed knew he abused women, or that he raped Rose in the 90s, other women before and others after, until they told us. We did not know that women’s silence was purchased by him and his enablers.

HW needed us not to know this, because our association with him bought him credibility, an ability to lure young, aspiring women into circumstances where they would be hurt.

He needed me much more than I needed him and he made sure I didn’t know. Apparently he hired ex Mossad operators to protect this information from becoming public. Rose and the scores of other victims of these powerful, moneyed, ruthless men face an adversary for whom Winning, at any and all costs, is the only acceptable outcome. That’s why a legal defense fund for victims is currently being assembled to which hundreds of good hearted people in our business will contribute, to bring down the bastards, and help victims fight this scourge within.

Rose assumed and broadcast something untrue about me, and I wanted to let her know the truth. Through friends who know her, I got my home phone number to her the minute I read the headlines. I sat by that phone all day yesterday and this morning, hoping to express both my deep respect for her and others’ bravery in exposing the monsters among us, and my sympathy for the untold, ongoing pain she suffers. No one can bring back what entitled bosses like Bill O’Reilly, Roger Ailes, and HW took from the women who endured attacks on their bodies and their ability to make a living.. And I hoped that she would give me a hearing. She did not, but I hope she reads this.

I am truly sorry she sees me as an adversary, because we are both, together with all the women in our business, standing in defiance of the same implacable foe: a status quo that wants so badly to return to the bad old days, the old ways where women were used, abused and refused entry into the decision-making, top levels of the industry. That’s where the cover-ups convene. Those rooms must be disinfected, and integrated, before anything even begins to change.”

Marchesa is the fashion line that Weinstein started with his wife, Georgina Chapman. Chapman has come under fire for what some say is complicit behavior, staying silent as dozens of women have come forward to accuse Weinstein of sexual misconduct, including rape.

“Star Wars: Episode VIII: The Last Jedi” was first at the box office this weekend, taking in $220 million in North America. It was the second-biggest domestic opening of all time, behind only 2015′s “The Force Awakens.”

The latest installment in the Star Wars franchise made $104.8 million on Friday alone, Variety reported.

Box Office Mojo predicts “The Last Jedi” will eventually take in between $750 and $830 million domestically, which would put it as high as No. 2 all-time (again, behind only “The Force Awakens”). 

Coming in at a distant second this weekend was the animated feature “Ferdinand” ($13.3 million), followed by “Coco” ($10 million), “Wonder” ($5.4 million) and “Justice League,” ($4.2 million). 

“The Last Jedi” also earned $230 million overseas, giving it a global box office of $450 million, according to comScore.

“The Force Awakens” earned $248 million domestically and $281 million overseas, for a combined haul of $529 million during its first weekend. It was the biggest global opening weekend of all time until earlier this year, when “The Fate Of The Furious” took in $541 million, including $98 million in North America, per Box Office Mojo.

The next installment in the “Star Wars” franchise will be “Solo: A Star Wars Story.” Set to open in May, the film tells the tale of a young Han Solo. “Star Wars: Episode IX,” which has not yet been given a full title, is scheduled to hit theaters Dec. 20, 2019.

There were times in 2017 when it felt like rage might burn me up from the inside out. At times, that anger felt paralyzing. When there is so much happening at once, how do you focus your energies?

During these moments, it was always reading that jolted me and my colleagues into action ― a piece about the Women’s March that made us get off our couches and show up, or a piece on a raucous summer blockbuster that made us remember that joy can be a radical act. So for thesixth time we’ve curated a list of pieces that had an effect on us as readers over the last calendar year.

To make the list, an article had to be (1) published in 2017, (2) written by a woman and (3) available online. Below are 28 of those pieces that moved us this year. They are a reminder that even in the darkest of times, storytelling matters.

“Your Reckoning. And Mine.”

Rebecca Traister, New York Magazine

In this extended moment of reckoning regarding sexual assault and harassment, we are all implicated, Rebecca Traister argues. Because when you’ve spent a lifetime both experiencing violations and being complicit in a system that allows them, the process of a collective reckoning is a difficult one. It brings painful self-reflection, anxiety over a brewing backlash (“A powerful white man losing a job is a death, and don’t be surprised if women wind up punished for the spate of killings”), and, potentially, the promise of catharsis and eventual equality. Some women, Traister points out, might realize they’ve waited their whole lives to tell stories they didn’t even know they carried.

“The Heart of Whiteness: Ijeoma Oluo Interviews Rachel Dolezal, the White Woman Who Identifies as Black”

Ijeoma Oluo, The Stranger

Ijeoma Oluo wanted to avoid Rachel Dolezal, the white woman who passed herself off as a black woman for a decade. But when that became impossible, she interviewed her instead. What followed is a striking piece of journalism, an interview that really digs into the core of what drives the relationship Dolezal has with blackness. As Oluo writes, “I couldn’t escape Rachel Dolezal because I can’t escape white supremacy. And it is white supremacy that told an unhappy and outcast white woman that black identity was hers for the taking.”

“Yes, This Is a Witch Hunt. I’m a Witch and I’m Hunting You.”

Lindy West,  The New York Times

This piece has one of the best headlines of the year. And it only gets better from there. As Lindy West outlined in the wake of the first round of Harvey Weinstein allegations, “The witches are coming, but not for your life. We’re coming for your legacy.” As 2017 comes to a close, the hunt continues.

“The Most American Terrorist: The Making of Dylann Roof”

Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah, GQ

Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah’s stunning longread on Dylann Roof, the now 23-year-old man who murdered nine black parishioners at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015, attempts to answer a big question: How did “one of the coldest killers of our time” come to be? Ghansah spoke to Roof’s teachers, classmates, friends and family members, concluding that Roof is a terrifying omen. He is “a child both of the white-supremacist Zeitgeist of the Internet and of his larger environment [...] It is possible that Dylann Roof is not an outlier at all, then, but rather emblematic of an approaching storm.”

“Every Parent Wants To Protect Their Child. I Never Got The Chance.”

Jenn Gann, The Cut

For Jenn Gann, fighting for justice for her beloved son who was born with cystic fibrosis means considering that he should never have been born. Gann’s exploration of “wrongful birth” cases ― in which the parents of a child with a congenital disease claim that medical professionals failed to properly warn them of their child’s condition before birth ― is deeply personal, raw and heart-wrenching. This story complicates the narrative people usually consider when discussing terms like “pro-life” and “pro-choice.” “After all this pain and humiliation and anger boiled down to records and money and who did what,” Gann writes, “the love I have for my son feels like the one thing that can’t be taken from me.”

“Y’all Don’t Deserve Black Women”

Ashley Nkadi, The Root

The headline says it all. “There will come a day when the same nation that stepped on black women will run, shouting, at our doors to save it,” Ashley Nkadi writes. “And we will whisper ‘no.’”

“Harvey Weinstein Paid Off Sexual Harassment Accusers for Decades”

Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, The New York Times

This is the piece of journalism that set off a reckoning. Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey spent months reporting out this story about the years of sexual harassment and assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein. We will be sorting through the consequences of this stellar piece of journalism for years to come.

“Inside Hillary Clinton’s Surreal Post-Election Life”

Rebecca Traister, New York Magazine

There is so much to say about Hillary Clinton, the equal-parts-beloved-and-reviled woman who almost became president. Rebecca Traister draws a portrait of a candid, exhausted, powerful, funny, worried, determined and (understandably) angry woman, recovering from a grueling presidential campaign and looking toward an uncertain future for the nation she spent her life working for.

“An Algorithm Isn’t Always The Answer”

Maris Kreizman, The New York Times

In a moment when we often get our news, our life updates, our job opportunities and our dates via algorithm, sometimes it’s healthy ― and downright heartening ― to remember that “the best things in life are unquantifiable.”

“If Wonder Woman Can Do It, She Can Too”

Jessica Bennett, The New York Times

I cried the first time I saw “Wonder Woman.” Jessica Bennett, who saw the film in Brooklyn, surrounded by girls and women of all ages, gets to the root of why viewers like me had such an intense reaction to seeing the superhero on the big screen. “There was something deeply visceral about it: a depiction of a hero we never knew we needed, a hero whose gender was everything but also nothing.”

“The Spiritless Token”

Doreen St. Felix, MTV News

In January, Doreen St. Felix dove into the conundrum that is Omarosa’s public image, career and eventual position within the Trump administration. “She has not risen high enough to elicit any emotion besides pity,” St. Felix concluded. In December, knowing how Omarosa’s time in the White House ended, St. Felix’s assessment feels even more vital.

“Women Aren’t Just Nags ― We’re Fed Up”

Gemma Hartley, Harper’s Bazaar

There’s a reason that Gemma Hartley’s piece on emotional labor struck such a chord. Not only is it a perfect mix of personal essay and reporting, but it also defines a type of work that women have been doing without acknowledgment or much public discussion for years, for decades ... for forever.

“The Women I’m Thankful For”

Jennifer Weiner, The New York Times

In a year that was sometimes difficult to find anything to be grateful for, Jennifer Weiner’s beautiful love note to brave women is an editorial salve for the soul.

“Cardi B Was Made To Be This Famous”

Allison P. Davis, New York Magazine

Cardi B is a celebrity for our time: a bombastic rapper with raw talent and a powerful lack of shame about her body, her roots and her monetary success. Allison P. Davis’ profile of the artist is as fun a read as Cardi’s hit “Bodak Yellow” is a listen.

“It’s Crazy to Bring Kids Into This World. It’s Also Worth It.”

Lori Fradkin, Cosmopolitan

In the wake of the Manchester bombing, in which a bomber killed 22 people, many of them young women and girls, during an Ariana Grande concert in England, Lori Fradkin attempted to answer the question: “How do you bring children into this crazy world?” The answer she comes upon is both infuriating and simple: You just decide it’s worth it to.

“The Protection Racket”

Stassa Edwards, Jezebel

When an anonymously sourced “Shitty Media Men” list began circulating in October, it became ― as most things that circulate among journalists do ― a source of contention and think-piece generation. Of all those think pieces, Edwards’ is the best. “If the debate over Shitty Media Men revealed anything,” she wrote, “it’s that there is no way for a woman to level a sexual harassment or abuse allegation without having her methods and motives subjected to a detailed dissection.”

“Who Didn’t Go to the Women’s March Matters More Than Who Did”

Jenna Wortham, The New York Times Magazine

The Women’s March, held the day after Donald Trump’s inauguration, became the largest single-day protest in U.S. history. It was a galvanizing moment ― one that has proved to have staying power ― and the march’s national co-chairs, Tamika Mallory, Linda Sarsour, Carmen Perez and Bob Bland, have become recognizable public figures. But the crowds on Jan. 21, though diverse in many ways, were still overwhelmingly white. In the days following the march, Jenna Wortham beautifully breaks down the cracks that exist in American sisterhood. “While black women show up for white women to advance causes that benefit entire movements, the reciprocity is rarely shown,” she wrote. “The coalitions that formed on Saturday will have bigger questions to organize around, questions that will prove more urgent in the years to come. For whom are they marching? Is it only for themselves?”

“Reflecting on One Very Strange Year at Uber”

Susan J. Fowler, Her Own Blog

Months before Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey would begin to reveal the extent of Harvey Weinstein’s monstrous treatment of women, Susan J. Fowler drew the world’s attention to Uber’s treatment of women. It’s no coincidence that Time recognized her as one of 2017’s “silence breakers.”

“The Personal Essay Boom Is Over”

Jia Tolentino, The New Yorker

There was a time when it felt like you couldn’t frequent a women-centric digital publication without coming across a personal essay. From Jezebel to xoJane to HuffPost Women to The Cut, personal stories reigned supreme ― told with varying degrees of self-awareness, skill, editing and relevance. Jia Tolentino bids the era of the personal essay adieu with conflicted feelings: There is no mourning for this genre, but perhaps there is room to appreciate a type of writing that allowed people to “try to figure out if they had something to say.”

“Heather Heyer Was The Alt-Right’s Worst Nightmare”

Chloe Angyal, HuffPost

When Heather Heyer was killed in Charlottesville, Virginia, she died an anti-racist activist and feminist. She also died as a woman who asserted her opinions in public spaces, had never been married and didn’t have children. As Chloe Angyal explains, it was being single and childless that made her the perfect symbol of everything the alt-right disdains.

“Time Person Of The Year 2017: The Silence Breakers”

Stephanie Zacharek, Eliana Dockterman and Haley Sweetland Edwards, Time Magazine

In 2016, Donald Trump was Time’s Person of the Year. In 2017, his looming presence was replaced by a sea of women who dared to speak up and set off a reckoning. It was poetic justice in a magazine cover.

“Raising A Teenage Daughter”

Elizabeth Weil with annotations by Hannah W. Duane, The California Sunday Magazine

We so often hear about teenagers in the abstract ― what they’re buying, what they’re ruining, what they’re like, all told by adults who can hardly remember what it was like to be teens. (At the ripe old age of 30, I feel not so distant from my teenage years, and yet recalling the experience of being 13 or 15 or 17 with authenticity feels like a herculean task.) Weil and her teenage daughter, Duane, manage to put the duel perspectives of parenting a teen and being a teen into one beautiful piece. Weil wrote an essay, and Duane added notes and corrections. The result is simply brilliant.

“I’m Done With Not Being Believed”

Amber Tamblyn, The New York Times

When Amber Tamblyn tweeted about a time James Woods tried to pick her up when she was 16 years old, the older actor called her a liar. This public denial set off something inside of Tamblyn. She fired back in The New York Times with a clear message: No more. No more silence because the silence has become stifling and its costs too high. As Tamblyn wrote: “The women I know, myself included, are done [...] playing the credentials game. We are learning that the more we open our mouths, the more we become a choir.”

“Men of the World: You Are Not The Weather”

Alexandra Petri, The Washington Post

Alexandra Petri is fed up with discussing sexual harassment as though it is an inevitability. “Nothing about this was inevitable,” she writes, addressing men. “This was not weather. You are not the weather, and your buddy is not the weather.” Amen, amen, amen.

“All The Angry Ladies”

Megan Garber, The Atlantic

Women have spent decades burying, apologizing for and papering a forced smile over their rage. In 2017, the dam holding back that rage burst. As Megan Garber articulated: “It’s a truth that the witch-burners and the shrill-shamers over the centuries have known all too well: Rage will, inevitably, rise. It’s happening now.”

“‘Girls Trip’ Celebrates The Unapologetic Sexuality of Black Women”

Zeba Blay, HuffPost

“Girls Trip,” the riotous summer movie that brought in more than $130 million at the box office, became the first black-led film to do so. Not only was it a complete fucking delight to watch, but the movie put black women and black women’s sexuality front and center ― and celebrated it. As Zeba Blay puts it, “Girls Trip” reminds Hollywood that black women “can win at the box office with dramas and Civil Rights period pieces, but we can also win with raucous comedies that have absolutely no chill.”

“The End Of An Emo Era Is Breaking My Teenage Heart”

Shannon Keating, BuzzFeed

When Shannon Keating was a self-described “surly teen” facing the darkness teens so often face, Brand New’s music was her medicine. This year, the sexual misconduct allegations against Brand New frontman Jesse Lacey forced Keating to reexamine the band that got her through so much. “Even though we certainly know better by now, we’d hoped that men who could make us feel so much — who got us through the darkest times in our lives when nothing else could — might be the good guys,” Keating writes. “So much for that.”

“When Men Fear Women”

Leah Finnegan, The Outline 

“If there’s one thing to learn from the endless morass of emotions that has been the past few weeks it’s that it’s good to make men feel fear,” Leah Finnegan concludes, examining the “Weinstein Effect.” Women have an intimate relationship with fear, practically from birth. We make decisions around it and silence ourselves because of it. Finnegan makes an effective argument for letting men feel a bit of what we’ve always felt. Is this what the rocky, windy road to equality looks like?

Soon audiences will be able to watch a documentary about the recent Harvey Weinstein scandal. 

BBC Two announced on Monday that the network has commissioned a two-part documentary that will detail the multiple sexual misconduct allegations against the film producer and his inevitable fall from grace. “Weinstein” ― the working title of the film ― will be directed by Ursula MacFarlane (director of “Charlie Hebdo: 3 Days That Shook Paris”) and produced by two-time Academy Award winner Simon Chinn. 

“This film promises to be the definitive take on the Weinstein scandal,” BBC commissioner Tom McDonald said. “As well as revealing the inside story of the past few months in minute detail, it will also look to the past to tell the story of abuses of power within Hollywood since its very origins and chart the rise of Harvey Weinstein himself over many decades.”

According to the network’s announcement, the film will include interviews with reporters, Hollywood insiders and the many actresses who came forward with stories about Weinstein. 

BBC Two controller Patrick Holland told BBC News that the recent reckoning of sexual misconduct in Hollywood will have far-reaching impacts, which is why they’re creating the documentary.

“The breaking of silence over Harvey Weinstein is a watershed moment for the creative industries and for wider society,” he said. 

Since the publication of two revealing reports in The New York Times and The New Yorker this fall, Weinstein has been accused by more than 60 women of some form of sexual misconduct, ranging from harassment to assault and rape. The producer has denied all allegations against him.

BBC has not set a release date for “Weinstein.” 

Is Netflix and chill too noncommittal for you? How about Netflix and propose? 

Meet Conor and Kamela, two avid watchers, who happen to have been dating for six years. Conor is ready to propose marriage, but instead of your run-of-the-mill popping of the question, he recruited the stars of Kamela’s favorite show, “Santa Clarita Diet,” to help him out. 

A clip of the proposal posted by Netflix on Monday shows Kamela thinking she’s part of a reality TV show in which she and her beau watch various programs on the streaming site. Little did she know that when she pressed play, Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant ― a “ride or die couple,” in her words ― would appear with Conor sandwiched between them

That’s when he asked her to marry him IRL. 

“This is not a show babe. It’s not real,” Conor said, getting down on one knee. “It’s been awesome being your boyfriend, but if you’re cool with it, I’d rather be your husband.” 

Cheers to the happy couple ― and the promotional team for “Santa Clarita Diet” Season 2, which is returning for a second season on Netflix. 

Someone very special will drop this year’s New Year’s Eve ball in Times Square.

Tarana Burke, who founded the #MeToo movement, will push the ceremonial Waterford Crystal button that will begin the 60-second countdown and release the iconic ball in New York City on Dec. 31. 

Burke, a 44-year-old youth organizer who founded Just Be Inc., created the “Me Too” campaign in 2007, long before hashtags even existed.  

“I am delighted to be participating in this momentous occasion,” Burke said in a press release. “I think it’s fitting to honor the Me Too movement as we close a historic year and set our intentions for 2018. With the new year comes new momentum to fuel this work and we won’t stop anytime soon.”

The #MeToo movement helped lead to the recent wave of sexual harassment and assault allegations against powerful men like Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Roy Moore and Louis C.K. The campaign sparked a public reckoning of how we handle sexual violence in our culture.

Time Magazine named “The Silence Breakers” it’s “2018 Person of the Year,” citing change-makers like Burke along with actresses Ashley Judd and Alyssa Milano.

“New Year’s is a time when we look at the most significant cultural and political moments of the last year, when we look for inspiration by honoring and giving a global platform to those who have made a difference,” Tim Tompkins, the president of the Times Square Alliance, said in the press release. “Tarana Burke’s courage and foresight have changed the world this year, and, we hope, forever. We are honored to have her be part of the 2018 New Year’s celebration.” 

Major television networks have more work to do to ensure that Asian-Americans become a regular part of the mainstream media landscape, new analysis suggests.

But things are looking up. 

The Asian Pacific American Media Coalition (APAMC) released a report card last week evaluating four major television networks on their progress in the minority group’s representation. 

Most networks exhibited improvements, with ABC scoring the highest. But Fox was given an “incomplete” for failing to provide data for the report. What’s more, Fox had the fewest Asian-American regulars in its shows since almost a decade ago, according to the coalition’s numbers. 

However, with clear gains made in diversity compared with seasons past, Daniel Mayeda, chair of the APAMC, said in an email that he’s optimistic about the future of TV.

“Television has made good progress,” Mayeda told HuffPost of the results of the report, which also evaluated CBS and NBC. “The fact that there are now a solid base of Asian American writers and producers is a good sign for continued future inclusion of [Asian-American and Pacific Islander] talent and stories.”

The coalition evaluated networks in several categories, including the numbers of Asian-American and Pacific Islander actors, the numbers of writers and producers, and the organizations’ commitment to diversity. Each network was then given an overall grade. 

While ABC was awarded an overall B score, the report noted that it received a respectable A- in the category of actors. With its 21 Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) series regulars along with 23 recurring characters, ABC set new records in casting, according to APAMC. Three of its shows featured Asian leads, including “Quantico,” “Fresh Off the Boat” and “Dr. Ken,” which was canceled this year. 

The report shows that CBS received an overall B- score and NBC a C+. Though the two networks got lower marks when it came to the numbers of AAPI actors along with writers and producers, the APAMC noted that progress could be on the horizon. Both networks have programs with more inclusive casts and executives in development. Among other shows, NBC is working on a series with a Sikh-American lead. And CBS is developing a comedy about an Asian-American rookie professional basketball player. 

As for Fox, Mayeda explained that the network initially did not fully comply with an agreement meant to spur progress in diversity. The major networks had all signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Multi-Ethnic Media Coalition (MEMC), which includes several civil rights and minority nonprofits, and in part stipulates that networks provide data for the report. 

“Fox has a new team installed to advance diversity and inclusion. I am not sure they understood the importance of the MOUs or the role advocacy groups such as ours play in the process to hold the networks accountable and to work in partnership with them to meet our mutual goals,” Mayeda said.

But it seems that the network has had a change of heart. 

“I think we now have their attention,” the chair said. “They have now begun providing us data, and we will be working with them to ensure that there is a good baseline of data against which to measure progress.” 

According to the coalition’s own research, Fox had only six AAPI regulars in the 2016-2017 television season. And most of the network’s series that contained AAPI regulars, including “New Girl” and “Sleepy Hollow,” were canceled. Yet it remains to be seen whether shows featuring more actors from the minority group will take their place.

With none of the four networks given perfect overall scores, the report card will hopefully help show that the progress that’s been made doesn’t mean the industry is fully inclusive, Mayeda said. 

“It is not enough to be the sidekick character who makes the white star more interesting, or the Asian American boss who acts stern and mutters a few lines every few episodes,” Mayeda told HuffPost. “In particular, we want to be able to tell our own stories [and] ideally be the stars of the shows or, at least, have prominent lead roles so that we have storylines that revolve around our lives.”

Past research indicates clear areas in need of improvement. A study on Asian-Americans’ representation in television reveals that characters of Asian descent are still often tokenized on the small screen. There’s still a huge chunk of shows that don’t have an Asian presence at all, and many shows that boasted many AAPI series regulars have been canceled. 

But with proof that headway is possible, it’s up to Hollywood to continue stepping up to the plate. 

“In an ideal world, there are enough different kinds of representations of AAPI characters and stories that viewers will come to know Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders as real Americans, with lives that are relatable,” Mayeda said. 

Children in Venezuela are suffering from and dying of acute malnutrition at a staggering rate, according to a report from The New York Times published Sunday.

The Times spoke to doctors at 21 public hospitals across the country, who say there have been roughly 2,800 cases of child malnutrition and nearly 400 deaths due to the condition in the last year.

The oil-rich South American country has been enveloped in a political and economic crisis for more than a year, resulting in soaring inflation and a shortage of food, medicine and other basic necessities. Venezuela first entered into a recession in 2014.

The result of a five-month investigation, the Times’ interactive report includes firsthand accounts of several families who’d lost months-old children after being unable to find baby formula.

“Sometimes they die in your arms just from dehydration,” Dr. Milagros Hernández, a doctor who works at a children’s hospital in the northern city of Barquisimeto, told the newspaper.

Hernández said she saw a spike in malnourished patients by the end of 2016. 

“But in 2017 the increase in malnourished patients has been terrible,” she added. “Children arrive with the same weight and height of a newborn.”

The Times also examined other symptoms of the country’s crisis: malnutrition among adults, children joining violent street gangs as a result of a lack of food at home, and women seeking sterilization after it became too difficult to properly care for a child in the country’s current state. 

Rising mortality rates in Venezuela made headlines in May, after then–Health Minister Antonieta Caporale’s department released the government’s first health statistics in two years.

The data showed infant mortality had increased by 30 percent and maternal mortality by 65 percent. Malaria cases had also skyrocketed. Caporale was abruptly fired days later.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, whose moves to consolidate political power during 2017 sparked several countrywide demonstrations, has refused to accept humanitarian aid as millions of Venezuelans face hunger and a lack of basic necessities.

Read The New York Times’ full interactive report on Venezuela here. 

After a devastating hurricane season and vague threats of nuclear war, a number of men piled heaps of refuse onto the dumpster fire that has been 2017 as the public learned about an epidemic of sexual misconduct.

The stories have spanned coastlines. Former super-producer Harvey Weinstein is said to have raped, assaulted and harassed dozens of women in the entertainment industry. Some 300 women say director James Toback has done things like masturbate in front of them without consent. Former Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) reportedly encouraged a woman to touch his groin. The accused stand in depressingly good company: Kevin Spacey, Al Franken, Glenn Thrush, Mark Halperin, Charlie Rose, Ed Westwick, Danny Masterson, Mario Batali and more.

Shortly after “King of Comedy” Louie C.K. joined their ranks for masturbating in front of women without their consent, writer Ashley Simon hatched an idea that would become the common-decency instruction manual Where Does Your Penis Belong?, a primer for men that was released this week.

“Do we need to go back to 101 behavior here?” Simon jokingly wondered over dinner with friends, who later encouraged the project. She was also spurred on by victim-blaming responses to the women who shared their experiences.

“I was grossed out by the insinuation that women should know not to go into these hotel rooms, as if it’s on you to know that someone’s going to expose themselves without your consent and in a professional situation,” Simon told HuffPost. 

In the book, priced at $24.99, a series of prompts allows readers to absorb a message through repetition: Whether it be in the office or on the train, one’s penis should stay in one’s pants. 

Profits will be donated to RAINN, the sexual violence prevention organization.

Billed as “A Children’s Book for Grown-Ass Men,” the collaborative project from Simon, illustrator Allison Gore and web designer Isla Murrayis available through Blurb, the self-publishing platform. Response has been enthusiastic, Simon said, with about 100 copies sold in the first few hours of the book’s release and a stream of supportive tweets.

A website for Where Does Your Penis Belong? explains that the book had been “a therapeutic exercise” for the three women, who felt “a desperate need for some comedic relief in the wake of so much trauma and outrage.”

At the bottom of the site, visitors can even input Twitter handles of men they believe might benefit from the educational message contained in Where Does Your Penis Belong? A tweet including a link to the book is then sent to the men anonymously.

While the book may not be a complete antidote to widespread sexual misconduct, its authors “hope it’s a therapeutic read for many others,” they state, concluding, “Long live pants.”

Paris’ hottest new restaurant is attracting lots of attention from patrons who like to have a little skin in the game.

It’s called O’Naturel, and it caters to nudists who care more about fine food than fine clothing. 

Age really is just a number for Emma Wren Gibson.

She was born on Nov. 25, but from an embryo that was frozen on Oct. 14, 1992.

Carol Sommerfelt, embryology lab director at the National Embryo Donation Center, thawed out the “Emma-bryo” on March 13. 

New mother Tina Gibson admits being shocked when she discovered she’d be carrying an egg about as old as she is.

“Do you realize I’m only 25? This embryo and I could have been best friends,” Gibson told CNN when Emma was born.

Little Emma is believed to be the oldest known frozen embryo that came to successful birth, beating the previous record holder, who was 20 years old at the time of birth.

But Tina Gibson, who has turned 26 since the birth, has other priorities than world records.

“I just wanted a baby. I don’t care if it’s a world record or not,” she told CNN.

Tina and husband Benjamin live in eastern Tennessee and got their fully fertilized embryo from the National Embryo Donation Center in Knoxville.

It’s a faith-based organization that helps wannabe parents by supplying frozen embryos that won’t be used by their genetic parents, according to WBIR-TV.

So far, the NEDC has enabled nearly 700 pregnancies, including Tina Gibson’s.

“Emma is such a sweet miracle,” Benjamin Gibson told the station. “I think she looks pretty perfect to have been frozen all those years ago.”

Dr. Jeffrey Keenan, who performed the embryo transfer, hopes the story inspires parents who might be saving embryos to donate to the cause.

“We hope this story is a clarion call to all couples who have embryos in long-term storage to consider this life-affirming option for their embryos,” he said in a news release.

There are two types of people in this world: Those who eat to live, and those who live to eat.

With the exception of my grandmother (more on that later), I prefer to keep the company of those who, like me, fall in the latter camp. Do not ask me to travel with you if your plans are not centered on meals. Do not invite me to a party where there will not be a cheese plate, because I will not come to a party where there are no cheese plates.

And yet my relationship with food has been, in large part, consistently dysfunctional. Call it a product of having a mother who was restricted by her mother and who in turn felt the need to never restrict me. Call it a product of growing up surrounded only by women. Call it genetics. Whatever its origin, I, like many people, specifically women, have a really distorted view when it comes to food and my body. 

I was overweight throughout my entire childhood and continue to struggle with my weight in adulthood. Despite the fact that I’ve grown into a person who actually enjoys staying in shape ― I ran my first half marathon in October ― and despite the fact that my job over the past four years has kept me focused on the importance of self-acceptance, body diversity and loving the skin you’re in, I am constantly struggling with a longing need to be thinner.

Most days, I feel like a complete hypocrite. 

For me, negative connotations with food ― when compounded by feeling bad about having negative connotations with food ― make eating way less enjoyable. In an effort to take back my meal times, I recently decided to perform an experiment: I’d go about my week like I normally do but keep track of every time I felt guilty about the things I was eating. 

At least I tried to. Until I realized very early on in the week that when it comes to what I do ― or do not ― put in my body, there is always some level of guilt or frustration. And that guilt usually has very little to do with food and much more with my relationship with myself and my body.

My company provides free lunch and snacks to its employees (I know, I know). And I have, without realizing it, been stopping myself from destroying the peanut M&Ms, a food I would consider to be “bad,” at my disposal. I have literally not allowed myself the sheer joy of company-provided peanut M&Ms, mostly sticking to the “good” fruits and same salad for lunch every day out of an irrational fear that at the mere taste of one morsel I’ll throw all caution to the wind, stop exercising forever and eat myself to death.

That feeling can be a bit isolating, but all I have to do is poll a group of female friends to know that I am so not alone. Weight loss is a $60 billion industry that spans diet programs, books and food (to name a few). Add to that the imagery of thinness equating beauty we see reflected back at us in media and it’s no wonder so many women ― three out of four of American women, according to a 2008 survey ― engage in some form of disordered eating. 

I shared those fears in not quite so many extreme terms with Dr. Ashley Solomon, executive clinical director of the Eating Recovery Center in Ohio, who challenged me to think back on all the times I’d felt like I did something “wrong” or “bad” when it came to eating and/or working out. 

“If you think about your relationship with your body as being similar to any other relationship that you have, the way you build a relationship is you’re able to show each other over time that you can be relied on,” Solomon said. “With a friend, I might have forgotten to call you one night, but you know I’ll talk to you next week or whenever ― it’s not like I’m suddenly never going to call you again.”

How does that relate to having more faith in your body? “If you think about it that way, of having that trust in your body, the best thing you can do is build on that experience,” she said. “OK, you didn’t work out yesterday, but you will today. Then next week, when you’re thinking back on it, you can look back and build on that experience. But if we are anxious every time and get ourselves really concerned, then it undermines that trust.” 

I could have used those words of wisdom at the movies with my grandmother, a woman so consumed with her own weight (and mine) that she prefers to ingest cigarettes than sit-down dinners. I wanted popcorn and a soda, and despite thinking naively that I had no qualms about that, neither of us could shut up about who had eaten more of the popcorn or about how we “shouldn’t have eaten it.”

Can you smell the deep-rooted family issues masked with artificial butter from there?

I’ve long preached to friends and family how problematic it is to call food or our behavior surrounding food “good” and “bad.” And, yet again, I have trouble practicing what I preach. Solomon said perhaps that might not be the best approach.

“What our research tells us is that we can’t necessarily eliminate thoughts,” she said. “It’s like if you say, ‘Don’t think of a purple elephant,’ that’s the first thing you’re going to think of. It’s useless to say don’t think of food as bad or good, but it’s more about noticing it, starting to become aware of what it sounds like and giving it attention. If we start to much more subtly bring kindness and awareness to some of those processes and just sort of being gentle with our experiences, we can bring to our attention how our mind is working so it’s not automatic and compulsive.”

So, then, it seemed like my little experiment was actually a good idea. Acknowledging that there is guilt is OK, but giving yourself a break and coming from a positive place can help shift the behavior and hopefully, eventually, the attitude toward food in general. 

I ate a cheeseburger last night and felt “better” about it after I worked out this morning ― another behavior that comes naturally to me. Solomon says that we have to “undo” feeling that we can’t just have enjoyment ― in the form of cheeseburgers or otherwise ― without earning it. And I still feel like I’ve accomplished something every time I walk by those M&Ms without taking a handful. It’s not a perfect fix, but in noticing the patterns, perhaps there is a chance for change. 

And, just for the record, if you’re feeling any kind of way about food, remember you’re not alone. “It’s a rare person who can say they have a totally healthy relationship with food,” Solomon said. “It’s an evolution and a process.” 

For additional information about Eating Recovery Center, call 877-789-5758, email info@eatingrecoverycenter.com or visit eatingrecoverycenter.com to speak with a masters-level clinician.

Three women who have accused Dustin Hoffman of sexual misconduct are amplifying their voices.

Cori Thomas, Anna Graham Hunter and actress Kathryn Rossetter appeared in a joint interview on NBC Nightly News on Monday in which they shared their stories of Hoffman’s alleged predatory behavior and abuse of power.

“As hard as it is, I think that I wanted to choose truth over shame,” said Thomas, who claims that Hoffman exposed himself to her when she was 16.

According to Thomas, in 1980 she spent one of “the greatest days of [her] life” with the actor and one of his daughters, who was her friend. Things took a stark turn when Thomas was left alone with Hoffman later that day while waiting for her parents to pick her up. She said the actor came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and then dropped it.

“I had never seen a man naked in my life at this point,” she told NBC.

Hoffman then allegedly asked her for a foot massage and kept telling her, “You know I’m naked.”

Hunter, who came forward with accusations against Hoffman in November, said the actor sexually harassed her on the set of his 1985 TV adaptation of “Death of a Salesman” when she was a 17-year-old intern.

She said that Hoffman groped and humiliated her. According to Hunter, one morning Hoffman gave her an offensive and vulgar breakfast order in front of others.

“And he just stared at me and everyone burst out laughing,” she said.

She then went to the bathroom and cried.

Rossetter acted alongside Hoffman in “Death of a Salesman” on Broadway in 1984. She said he continually harassed and assaulted her throughout the production’s run. In one disturbing instance, Rossetter said that Hoffman tried to penetrate her with his fingers backstage.

“I was told to suck it up,” Rossetter told NBC. “He was the most famous actor in the world — it was the top of his career. I was a nobody. No one was going to believe me.”

She added:

People go, “How is it to work with Dustin?” And I tell the half-truth, which is, as an actor working with him, I owe him everything. I learned so much. And then I would stop and there would always be a knot in my stomach about what the real truth was, which is he was abusive and he was a bully.

According to NBC, Hoffman declined to comment on the joint interview. In November, he apologized to Hunter, telling the Hollywood Reporter, “I am sorry. It is not reflective of who I am.”

Hoffman’s attorney has denied Thomas’ claim. He also denied assault allegations made by Melissa Kester and an anonymous woman, other accusers who did not appear on NBC. The attorney called their stories “defamatory falsehoods.”

Some folks online have long believed that actors Keanu Reeves and Adam Driver could be one and the same. But comic book creator Mark Millar took the lighthearted theory to the next level when he shared what he claimed was a face swap of the two stars on Twitter Monday.

Millar’s purported shot of “John Wick” star Reeves on Driver’s body (which actually emerged online earlier in the year), leaves you “confused and slightly lost,” he said.

(One might note that there is only the one photo of Driver’s body, and no corresponding body for Driver to “swap” to). But it was certainly confusing to us and some Twitter users:

For comparison, here are actual photographs of the pair:

Clarification: This article has been updated throughout to be less credulous of the claim that Reeves is featured in either image of this supposed “face swap.”