Time's Up CEO Tina Tchen Resigns Amid Andrew Cuomo Controversy

Tina Tchen is stepping down.

The president and CEO of Time’s Up Now and the Time’s Up Foundation, who formerly served as chief of staff for Michelle Obama, announced she is resigning amid controversy surrounding her reported connections to Andrew Cuomo‘s controversy, who just stepped down amid sexual assault allegations.

The company, created in 2018, was founded to support women against sexual harassment.

Click inside to read more…

Earlier this summer, Time’s Up was implicated in a bombshell report by the New York Attorney General that found that Andrew Cuomo had sexually harassed 11 women, revealing the law firm of Time’s Up founder Roberta Kaplan represents Melissa DeRosa, a former aide to Andrew Cuomo, who helped draft a letter smearing the first accuser, Lindsey Boylan.

Following the report, Roberta Kaplan resigned.

The New York Times and the Washington Post later published more reports about Time’s Up, including more details of Tina Tchen’s possible involvement in deciding not to publicly support Andrew Cuomo’s accuser, all leading up to Tina‘s eventual resignation on Thursday (August 26).

“I am especially aware that my position at the helm of TIME’S UP has become a painful and divisive focal point, where those very women and other activists who should be working together to fight for change are instead battling each other in harmful ways. Therefore, it is time for me to resign and continue to work for change in other ways, and to let TIME’S UP engage in the thoughtful and meaningful process I know will occur to move forward,” Tina said in a statement.

“Tina has made a difference in the lives of so many and we are grateful for her hard work and impact. Accepting her resignation today is a demonstration of accountability and will allow our organization to move forward. Beginning Tuesday, August 31st, Monifa Bandele will become our Interim CEO,” the organization said.

An honor was taken away from Andrew Cuomo following his resignation.

Read the statements in full inside…

TIME’S UP President and CEO Tina Tchen:

“I have spent a career fighting for positive change for women and I’ve never stopped. Leading TIME’S UP has been a hugely rewarding experience and we have accomplished much together that has made work better for women across the country. Change will come when we move those who run companies to enact policies to make things better for women and other workers, and when legislators enact laws to further gender equity and safety. And, change happens when those of us on the outside keep holding them accountable when needed. I have done that at the White House, as executive director of the Obama Administration’s White House Council on Women and Girls, as an attorney advising companies, and now at TIME’S UP. TIME’S UP’s advocacy was based on that premise, that we cannot just shout on the outside for change without helping companies, government leaders and policy makers find the solutions to do better.

Now is the time for TIME’S UP to evolve and move forward as there is so much more work to do for women. It is clear that I am not the leader who can accomplish that in this moment. I am especially aware that my position at the helm of TIME’S UP has become a painful and divisive focal point, where those very women and other activists who should be working together to fight for change are instead battling each other in harmful ways. Therefore, it is time for me to resign and continue to work for change in other ways, and to let TIME’S UP engage in the thoughtful and meaningful process I know will occur to move forward.”

The TIME’S UP Board of Directors:

“Tina Tchen has dedicated her life to making workplaces fair and equitable for workers and safer for women. That is why we asked her to lead TIME’S UP in the first place and why she has accomplished enormous changes in the two years she has served as our president. This includes guaranteeing support to the Silence Breakers and Harvey Weinstein survivors, developing a program to center women of color survivor voices, calling out sexism in politics, giving large corporations guidance to do the right thing and holding them accountable when their workplaces were not safe and equitable, and forcing the Golden Globes to address their toxic effect on the entertainment workplace. In sum, Tina has made a difference in the lives of so many and we are grateful for her hard work and impact. Accepting her resignation today is a demonstration of accountability and will allow our organization to move forward. Beginning Tuesday, August 31st, Monifa Bandele will become our Interim CEO.”