Cuomo faces new backlash after sex-harassment claims
FOX News correspondent Bryan Llenas joins 'The Story' with the latest on bombshell allegations
Actress-turned-activist Rose McGowan is speaking out in support of Lindsey Boylan, the former deputy secretary and special adviser to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo who accused him of sexual harassment.
Boylan on Wednesday penned a Medium post detailing an incident in which Cuomo allegedly suggested the pair play "strip poker" as they flew together following an event, among other instances of alleged "inappropriate behavior" and harassment during her tenure at the governor’s office. Cuomo’s press secretary, Caitlin Girouard, denied Boylan’s allegations Wednesday.
In an interview with Fox News, McGowan said she believes Boylan's claims.
"I completely stand by Lindsey Boylan. Its truth leaks from every word on the screen that she wrote," McGowan told us. "She, none of us, should endure what she endured. If they're doing it to her, what are they doing to constituents? What is he going to do to what he considers the little people? It's monstrous."
CUOMO AIDE DENIES LINDSEY BOYLAN CLAIM GOVERNOR ASKED HER TO PLAY 'STRIP POKER' DURING 2017 FLIGHT
Rose McGowan is standing by Lindsey Boylan, the former deputy secretary and special adviser to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo who accused him of sexual harassment. (Getty Images, File)
In her piece published Wednesday, Boylan detailed several specific instances in which Cuomo allegedly engaged in inappropriate behavior. She wrote that she "complained to friends that the Governor would go out of his way to touch me on my lower back, arms and legs."
Cuomo purportedly encouraged Boylan to look up photos of his rumored former girlfriend, telling her that "[they] could be sisters." In another incident at Cuomo’s New York City office, Boylan said, the governor kissed her on the lips.
"As we said before, Ms. Boylan's claims of inappropriate behavior are quite simply false," Girouard said in a statement.
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McGowan, a victim of convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein, said she finds it "unconscionable" Cuomo's alleged harassment of Boylan took place even after multiple women came forward with allegations of sex crimes against the disgraced media mogul.
Boylan’s allegations emerged as the embattled governor faces calls to resign over the state’s handling of its nursing home crisis during the coronavirus pandemic. (Getty Images, File)
"The fact that [Cuomo] was still doing it after the Weinstein allegations and during the #MeToo movement is egregious and disgusting," McGowan said. "It just shows the level of sociopathy that those at the highest levels of power have."
A rep for Cuomo did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.
McGowan said Boylan's claims against Cuomo mirror the abuse of authority she experienced under Weinstein's former regime in the film industry. Weinstein is currently serving a 23-year prison sentence for convictions on rape and criminal sex act charges.
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"Imagine how tired Lindsey Boylan is? She just wants to go to work and do her job, something she studied for, worked hard for, fought for and fought to make a difference in a way she knows how," the former "Charmed" star said. "She has to be scared of being alone with a man who's her superior? It's so unfair."
In Cuomo's denial, Girouard cited flight logs detailing Cuomo’s plane trips in October 2017, noting that there was "no flight where Lindsey was alone with the governor, a single press aide and a NYS trooper" as she claimed in the blog post.
Lindsey Boylan accused Gov. Andrew Cuomo of suggesting the pair play "strip poker" as they flew together following an event. He has denied her claims. (Getty Images, File)
Cuomo’s press secretary also cited a joint statement from several former aides – John Maggiore, Howard Zemsky, Dani Lever and Abbey Fashouer Collins – who shared flights with the governor and Boylan during that period and who denied the event occurred as Boylan described.
"We were on each of these October flights and this conversation did not happen," the aides said.
McGowan -- who refers to herself as a "notable public figure" instead of a "celebrity" given her several past statements that Hollywood is a "cult" -- also called out Cuomo's female and male colleagues who purportedly covered up his alleged "criminal" behavior.
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"What Cuomo's office sounds like is there's so many women who helped him do this to other women. Think of all the men in that office that also know and just keep moving up the line and they just get promoted. It's horrible and it's criminal," McGowan further claimed.
The actress-turned-activist called for an investigation into the allegations against Cuomo in an interview with Fox News. (Getty Images, File)
The actress -- who doubled down on a previous statement that she's not a Democrat nor a Republican -- said she believes leaders like Cuomo and his handlers feed off their power.
"It's not just taxpayer dollars that go to fund these people's lifestyles. It's power. They put messages into our minds," she said.
McGowan is now calling for an investigation into the accusations against the governor and said she'd like to see him replaced in office. She said what must come next is simple: the truth.
"It's time for some God d--n honesty. Sometimes truth hurts and it's not pretty but guess what? We get cleaned," she said. "Look what happened to Tara Reade, what the machine is going to do to Lindsey Boylan, look what they've done to me. These are powerful predators but it is so important that all of us remember we have power too."
Last spring, McGowan also publicly stood behind Reade, who accused then-Sen. Joe Biden of sexual asssault, declaring on Twitter that Reade was "TELLING THE TRUTH."
"What I would like to see is Cuomo out. What I would like to see is their network of evil out. It's the only way the good people can rise, be it Democrats or Republicans," McGowan said.
She added: "I would like to see an honest investigation. I would like that position of power to be filled by somebody who is not dangerous and a bully and intimidating and threatening because that's what sexual harassment is. It's power abuse. It's trying to make the little person feel small."
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McGowan, who moved from the United States to Mexico in 2020, also called out those in the media failing to cover such unavoidable accusations.
"Fake news is not what's written. It's what's not written," she said, noting that she "completely" finds "CNN, The New York Times, liberal media, mainstream media covering up for Cuomo" a "double standard."
Boylan’s allegations emerged as the embattled governor faces calls to resign over the state’s handling of its nursing home crisis during the coronavirus pandemic. Federal authorities have begun an investigation into the matter, though Cuomo has not been personally accused of any wrongdoing and has maintained his office acted properly.
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As for the handful of celebrities who continue to remain mum on Cuomo's alleged nursing home cover-up despite their former praise of the governor, McGowan said casually, "It's not a shock."
"For members of a cult, truth is like a taser to the brain. It hurts. And they have to protect their omissions and their illusory world that they live in at all costs -- and what that means is staying silent and not sticking your neck out," she concluded.
Fox News' Thomas Barrabi contributed to this report.
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