Cate Blanchett mourns how #MeToo got 'killed very quickly,' still 'systemic layer of abuse'

Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett mourned on Sunday how the #MeToo era was "killed very quickly" after its rise in 2017.

"There are a lot of people with platforms who are able to speak up with relative safety and say, ‘This has happened to me,’ and the so-called average woman on the street is saying ‘MeToo,’" Blanchett said at the Cannes Film Festival.

"Why does that get shut down?" she continued. "What it revealed is a systemic layer of abuse, not only in this industry but in all industries, and if you don’t identify a problem, you can’t solve the problem. You shut that conversation down. You can’t move on."

CATE BLANCHETT KNOCKS CANCEL CULTURE WHILE DISCUSSING NEW MOVIE, WARNS OF REPEATING 'PAST MISTAKES' OTHERWISE

During the event, Blanchett also pointed to the disproportionate ratio of men and women that she still sees while filming.

"I’m still on film sets and I do the headcount every day, and it is still…there’s 10 women and there’s 75 men, every morning. And I love men, but what happens is the jokes become the same. And what happens is you just have to brace yourself slightly. And I’m used to that, but it just gets boring. It gets boring for everybody when you walk into a homogeneous workplace. I think it has an effect on the work," Blanchett said.

Fox News Digital reached out to Blanchett's representative for comment.

SOCIETY HAS A NEW ‘PERVERSE ATTRACTION’ TO TOXIC MALE CHARACTERS, NY TIMES COLUMN ARGUES

Blanchett made similar comments in 2025, lamenting that the #MeToo movement ultimately "hasn't taken root" as far as she has seen.

"Everyone talks about the #MeToo movement as if it’s well and truly over, and I think well, it didn’t really ever take root, to be honest," Blanchett said.

She added, "People were seeking to dismantle and discredit those voices that were only just beginning to come out from under the floorboards into the light. I find it quite distressing the way that it hasn’t taken root."

Blanchett was also one of several actresses who claimed that former Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein behaved inappropriately with her.

ACTRESS SLAMS 'FICKLE' #METOO MOVEMENT, CALLS OUT HOLLYWOOD FOR HAVING 'NO MORAL BACKBONE'

"I think he really primarily preyed, like most predators, on the vulnerable. I mean I got a bad feeling from him.... He would often say to me, ‘We’re not friends’." Blanchett told Variety in 2018.

Weinstein's fall from grace after several women came forward with sexual harassment allegations in 2017 is what ultimately powered the #MeToo movement, expanding beyond the entertainment industry.