--- description: Tarana Burke, the founder of the #MeToo movement, will kick off Times Square's iconic New Year's Eve ball drop in New York City title: #MeToo Creator Tarana Burke Will Lead NYE Ball Drop In NYC image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdcc34c4c427a0e2a/6988f59397cdff4e896b3ac2/873384502.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # #MeToo Creator Tarana Burke Will Kick Off the Countdown to New Year in Times Square by [Casey Quackenbush](/author/casey-quackenbush/) ## Casey Quackenbush Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 19, 2017 3:27 AM CUT  Activist Tarana Burke speaks at the #MeToo Survivors March and Rally in Hollywood, Calif. on Nov. 12, 2017. Activist Tarana Burke speaks at the #MeToo Survivors March and Rally in Hollywood, Calif. on Nov. 12, 2017.Chelsea Guglielmino—FilmMagic/Getty Images by [Casey Quackenbush](/author/casey-quackenbush/) ## Casey Quackenbush Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 19, 2017 3:27 AM CUT Tarana Burke, the founder of the #MeToo movement, will kick off Times Square’s iconic New Year’s Eve ball drop in New York City. > [](https://twitter.com/TaranaBurke/status/942828647659868160) “I am delighted to be participating in this momentous occasion,” Burke said in a statement shared on Twitter. “I think it’s fitting to honor the Me Too movement as we close a historic year and set our intentions for 2018\. With the new year comes new momentum to fuel this work and we won’t stop anytime soon.” Burke is a social activist who has worked with victims of sexual assault for more than a decade. Following sexual assault allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, Burke and actress Alyssa Milano launched the #MeToo movement on Twitter in October to encourage victims to come forward with their stories of sexual harassment. The hashtag has since unleashed a torrent of accusations and confessions all over the world, leading to a wave of resignations and dismissals mostly of men accused of abusing positions of power. **Read more:** [_The Silence Breakers Are TIME’s Person of the Year for 2017_](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2017-silence-breakers/ "undefined") “New Year’s is a time when we look at the most significant cultural and political moments of the last year, when we look for inspiration by honoring and giving a global platform to those who have made a difference,” Tim Tompkins, president of the Times Square Alliance, told [amNewYork. ](https://www.amny.com/news/new-years-eve-tarana-burke-1.15507686 "undefined")“Tarana Burke’s courage and foresight have changed the world this year, and, we hope, forever.” Last year, an estimated 2 million people flocked to Times Square to celebrate the New Year. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5070579/metoo-tarana-burke-new-years-eve-ball-drop-times-square/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5070579/metoo-tarana-burke-new-years-eve-ball-drop-times-square/"},"headline":"#MeToo Creator Tarana Burke Will Kick Off the Countdown to New Year in Times Square","datePublished":"2017-12-19T03:27:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:49:21.856Z","description":"Last year, an estimated 2 million people flocked to Times Square to celebrate the New Year","url":"https://time.com/5070579/metoo-tarana-burke-new-years-eve-ball-drop-times-square/","keywords":["Newsfeed","New York","New York City","Living","Times Square","Sexual Violence","sexual harassment","Person of the Year topic","onetime","overnight","MeToo"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdcc34c4c427a0e2a/6988f59397cdff4e896b3ac2/873384502.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Casey Quackenbush","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/casey-quackenbush/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdcc34c4c427a0e2a/6988f59397cdff4e896b3ac2/873384502.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Take Back The Workplace March And #MeToo Survivors March & Rally","caption":"Take Back The Workplace March And #MeToo Survivors March & Rally","creditText":"Chelsea Guglielmino—FilmMagic/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5070579/metoo-tarana-burke-new-years-eve-ball-drop-times-square/","name":"#MeToo Creator Tarana Burke Will Kick Off the Countdown to New Year in Times Square"}}]}] ```