Celebrities who helped launch #MeToo movement react to Kavanaugh hearing

Many are also sharing their own harrowing stories of sexual abuse.

September 27, 2018, 2:18 PM

As Christine Blasey Ford faced lawmakers and the world to share her emotional account of a sexual assault she says Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh committed when they were both in high school, scores of celebrities have taken to social media to laud her bravery.

Some celebrities -- many of whom have propelled the #MeToo movement to reach a boiling point over the past few months -- are also responding to Ford's testimony by sharing their own stories of sexual abuse, keeping a national conversation going.

Social media posts with the hashtags #BelieveWomen, #BelieveSurvivors and #WhyIDidntReport skyrocketed as the hearings unfolded.

    Actress Busy Philipps shared a flashback photo of herself on Instagram, writing: "This is me at 14. The age I was raped."

    "It's taken me 25 years to say those words," she added. "Today is the day we are silent no more. All of us. I'm scared to post this. I can't imagine what Dr. Ford is feeling right now."

    Hollywood icon Sally Field also tweeted in solidarity with Ford, whom she called a "hero."

    "Out of the blue, a hero steps up and I’m in awe," she wrote. "I know the pain of these kinds of memories, Dr. Ford. Memories that are indelibly imprinted on your brain no matter how many years go by. I, like millions of women across America, are behind you and thank you profoundly."

    PHOTO: Christine Blasey Ford, sitting next to one of her lawyers, Michael R. Bromwich,  tears up during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, Sept. 27, 2018 in Washington.
    Christine Blasey Ford, sitting next to one of her lawyers, Michael R. Bromwich, tears up during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, Sept. 27, 2018 in Washington.
    Melina Mara/Pool via Getty Images

    Actress Alyssa Milano showed up to the hearing room in Washington, D.C., Thursday to show her support.

    "We are in a different time," Milano said from inside the room where Ford shared her testimony. "Women are standing together now in solidarity."

    Actress Mira Sorvino, also one of the #MeToo’s movements loudest voices, said in a tweet that as a survivor of sexual violence herself, Ford’s words “echo many of the feelings and reactions I have had over the years.”

    “I applaud her courage,” Sorvino added.

    Actress Ashley Judd, one of the most outspoken activists of the #MeToo movement and among the first to accuse disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein of misconduct, posted a series of tweets in support of Ford as the hearings went on.

    PHOTO: Actress Alyssa Milano talks to media before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court in Washington, Sept. 27, 2018.
    Actress Alyssa Milano talks to media before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court in Washington, Sept. 27, 2018.
    Pool via AFP/Getty Images

    Actress Sarah Hyland also shared her own #WhyIDidntReport story Thursday morning, detailing in a tweet an assault she said happened while she was in high school.

    Other celebrities who have shown their support for Ford on social media include Ellen Degeneres.

    PHOTO: Dozens of protesters against the confirmation of Republican Supreme court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh gather outside of Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer's office in New York, Sept. 27, 2018.
    Dozens of protesters against the confirmation of Republican Supreme court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh gather outside of Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer's office in New York, Sept. 27, 2018.
    Spencer Platt/Getty Images

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