In the past month, scandals regarding sexual assault and sexual harassment have appeared frequently in the news, thanks to Harvey Weinstein. The public appears to be completely outraged and disgusted by his actions.

However, in very recent history, many other prominent people within this industry have committed similar crimes. Somehow, their sins seem to have been ignored.

I would never excuse Weinstein’s actions or even justify them as expected of someone in this industry. However, others have gotten away practically unscathed.

Director Woody Allen and his 35-year younger step-daughter fell in love, while he was still in a romantic relationship with her adoptive mother. He ultimately married her and yet he still works in the industry and this seemingly never comes up.

Not only did he fall in love with one step-daughter, but Woody Allen has also been accused of inappropriately touching another step-daughter of his.

Because of his success in the 70’s, Woody Allen has become an icon of the industry. Working with him has been on the bucket list of countless actors and actresses. His reputation is perhaps one reason few people are speaking out against him.

Regarding the Weinstein scandal, Allen said, “the whole Harvey Weinstein thing is very sad for everybody involved.”

What does “sad” mean? Does it mean Allen is sad that people found out, sad for Weinstein, or sad for the victims? He is entirely unclear.

The public also seems to be ignoring the misconduct of Oscar nominee Johnny Depp, who all but admitted to abusing his ex-wife Amber Heard during their divorce settlements. She filmed a video three months after her divorce was finalized for a #GirlGaze Project PSA about domestic violence and even got teary as she talked about her experience and the toll that it took on her. In the video, Heard also talked about how she even had to file for a restraining order against Depp.

Similarly, society continues to ignore Chris Brown’s abuse of Rihanna. Practically the whole world knew about Chris Brown abusing singer Rihanna back in 2008; however, instead of being sent to prison, he won a Grammy in 2012 for “Best R&B album’ for ‘F.A.M.E.’”

Also in the hip hop world, Rapper XXXTentacion was accused of abusing his girlfriend. This abuse included threats, emotional, verbal and physical abuse. When his girlfriend told him that she was pregnant, he beat her until she was nearly unconscious because he believed it wasn’t his child.

Brown and XXXTentacion provide perfect examples of how the public perceives people in the music industry. We see hip-hop artists as thugs, and therefore we are not surprised when they behave badly.

In 2010, actor Casey Affleck was accused by two women he was working with of sexual harassment. One woman claimed that he crawled into bed with her while she was sleeping. The other claimed that he “violently grabbed [her] arm” while attempting to not allow her to leave his hotel room.

What did the public do? Nothing.

Instead, we ignored it and as a result he was given a larger role in a larger movie, allowing him to win an Oscar for Manchester by the Sea in 2017.

With Allen and the male rappers, a seemingly “understandable” explanation as to why they got away with it can be found. With Affleck, it is not so cut and dried. He is a indie actor whose first major role was that in Manchester by the Sea.

These men have a history of abusing women either physically or sexually, and yet instead of shaming them and boycotting their work, we give them awards and allow them to continue working. Why is this?

I am, like the rest of America, completely outraged and appalled by the actions of Weinstein and others who have faced allegations within the last month. However, I feel as though we have created a double standard. Somehow we were okay with hearing the terrible actions of the men I have discussed but we draw the line at Weinstein’s indiscretions.

This is inherently wrong. There should be line. All sexual misconduct is sexual misconduct. If we are not going to allow Weinstein to get away with his actions, then we should not allow any of these men to get away with it. If we are going to demand that Weinstein never work again, then that is what we should demand of these men too.