casting couch
Hollywood predator's prop
A casting couch is the practice of demanding sexual favors in exchange for roles in film, theater, or television.
The term evokes a couch in a producer's or director's office where such encounters allegedly occur: She refused to advance her career via the casting couch.
The phrase captures the exploitative power dynamics of entertainment industry hiring.
Reciprocal exchange of value
- coercionPressured compliance through threats
- manipulationUnderhanded control of others
- predatoryExploiting the vulnerable
- harassmentAggressive, unwanted targeting
intimidation · pressure · blackmail · misconduct · abuse of power · gatekeeping · complicity · victimization
Trial performance for selection
- callbackFollow-up audition invitation
- screen testFilmed casting evaluation
- headshotShoulders-up photograph
- producerOne who makes things
director · talent agent · starlet · role · script · pilot season · studio · executive
Anti-harassment accountability movement
- WeinsteinGerman surname, vintner's crust
- exposéInvestigative journalism piece
- allegationAssertion lacking proof
- testimonySworn statement as evidence
whistleblower · revelation · backlash · outcry · reckoning · complicity · cover-up · settlement
quid pro quo
Reciprocal exchange of value
- coercionPressured compliance through threats
- manipulationUnderhanded control of others
- predatoryExploiting the vulnerable
harassment · intimidation · pressure · blackmail · misconduct · abuse of power · gatekeeping · complicity · victimization · objectification
audition
Trial performance for selection
- callbackFollow-up audition invitation
- screen testFilmed casting evaluation
- headshotShoulders-up photograph
producer · director · talent agent · starlet · role · script · pilot season · studio · executive · breakdown
MeToo
Anti-harassment accountability movement
- WeinsteinGerman surname, vintner's crust
- exposéInvestigative journalism piece
- allegationAssertion lacking proof
testimony · whistleblower · revelation · backlash · outcry · reckoning · complicity · cover-up · settlement · NDA
- HollywoodHollywood, Tinseltown, Hollywood Sign, silver screen, movie stars
- Auditionscold read, sides, headshot, tryout, tryouts
- cinemafilm, films, film studios, movies, movie
- reality TVSurvivor, contestant, The Bachelor, elimination, The Bachelorette
- soap opera plotsbetrayal, jealousy, secret romance, love triangle, secret affair
- Women in Filmactress, film star, movie star, leading lady, supporting actress
casting couchmerit-based hiring
Employment by qualification alone
blind audition · meritocracy · fair competition · screen test · cattle call
casting couchprofessional boundaries
Limits in work relationships
intimacy coordinator · safe workplace · whistleblower protection
cast, casts, caster, casters, casting, castings, couch, couches, couched