--- title: Hollywood's #MeToo Movement Could Learn from South Africa description: Comedian Dave Chappelle suggested the fallout from sexual harassment in Hollywood could benefit from a strategy employed in post-apartheid South Africa. Could it work? canonical: https://time.com/5022229/metoo-dave-chappelle-truth-reconciliation/ author: Belinda Luscombe article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-16T21:00:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T18:13:34.916Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Here's a Radical Idea for Predatory Men og:description: One possible way to move forward after #MeToo in Hollywood og:url: https://time.com/5022229/metoo-dave-chappelle-truth-reconciliation/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt40b6ddb09bace5e4/6988f86de76ad28cc7630a3d/dave-chappelle-truth-reconciliation-netflix-metoo-louis-ck.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2405 og:image:height: 1353 og:image:alt: Saturday Night Live - Season 42 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's a Radical Idea for Predatory Men twitter:description: One possible way to move forward after #MeToo in Hollywood twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt40b6ddb09bace5e4/6988f86de76ad28cc7630a3d/dave-chappelle-truth-reconciliation-netflix-metoo-louis-ck.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A Radical Idea for Predatory Men: Confession, then Amnesty > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. Readers can join any of them at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=3d0aa72b-3f62-4d14-831d-434142cc8db5&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### The seven newsletters | Newsletter | Covers | Frequency | | --- | --- | --- | | The Brief | The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors | Daily | | Inside TIME | A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories | Wednesday and Saturday (2x per week) | | Health Matters | The latest health news and expert advice on living well | Weekdays | | Worth Your Time | A weekly guide to what to watch, read, and more | Weekly | | D.C. Brief | Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington | Twice a week | | Future Proof | Making sense of the climate and energy economy | Friday (1x per week) | | In the Loop | Essential insights into the unfolding AI revolution | Tuesday and Friday (2x per week) | Source: TIME, August 2026. ### Key data points | Metric | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Engaged newsletter audience | 1.1 million+ readers | TIME, August 2026 | | Newsletters published | 7 | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost to readers | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | US print circulation | 1 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Global print circulation | 1.15 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Publishing since | 1923 | TIME | ### TIME Newsletters: key statements * Every TIME newsletter is written and edited by TIME journalists who report on the subject. None is generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923. Its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting, so readers can trust what they read. * All seven newsletters are free. Readers pick the ones they want at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=3d0aa72b-3f62-4d14-831d-434142cc8db5&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). * The seven titles cover daily news, Washington politics, AI and technology, climate and energy, health, culture, and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/subscribe?i=3d0aa72b-3f62-4d14-831d-434142cc8db5&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What newsletters does TIME publish? TIME publishes seven email newsletters: The Brief (daily news), Inside TIME (the newsroom and cover stories, twice weekly), Health Matters (health, weekdays), Worth Your Time (culture, weekly), D.C. Brief (Washington politics, twice weekly), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=3d0aa72b-3f62-4d14-831d-434142cc8db5&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1)  by [Belinda Luscombe](https://time.com/author/belinda-luscombe/)  ## Belinda Luscombe Editor at Large Jan 16, 2018 9:00 PM UTC  Dave Chappelle speaks on "Saturday Night Live" on Nov. 12, 2016. Dave Chappelle speaks on "Saturday Night Live" on Nov. 12, 2016. Will Heath—NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images  by [Belinda Luscombe](https://time.com/author/belinda-luscombe/)  ## Belinda Luscombe Editor at Large Jan 16, 2018 9:00 PM UTC In one of his latest Netflix specials, comedian Dave Chappelle offers a solution to the fallout from all the sexual harassment allegations: give perpetrators a chance to confess their misdeeds in a public forum. The idea comes from councils that have been set up to heal divides within the public after oppressive regimes. If Nelson Mandela used one to help reset race relations after apartheid, why not use another to dismantle the patriarchy? “Without irony, I’ll say this: the cure for L.A. is in South Africa,” says Chappelle in his characteristic growl. South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) had three purposes: make sure prior human rights violations were acknowledged and recorded; allow for both reparation and rehabilitation for the victims of apartheid; and permit the perpetrators to confess fully and perhaps be given amnesty**,** though most did not receive it. Chappelle, who in his routine takes up for disgraced fellow comedian Louis C.K., sees the TRC as a way of meting out justice to those accused of sexual harassment without erasing all their humanity and of acknowledging that harassers can be cogs in a machine too. And he’s not the only one recommending it: In October, City University of New York journalism professor Jan Simpson also [called](https://www.facebook.com/search/str/jan+simpson+truth+and+reconciliation/keywords%5Fsearch) for a commission. “The end of apartheid should have been a f—ing bloodbath by any metric in human history, and it wasn’t,” says Chappelle, in a serious moment. “The only reason it wasn’t is because Desmond Tutu and Mandela and all these guys figured out that if a system is corrupt, then the people who adhere to the system, and are incentivized by that system, are not criminals. They are victims. The system itself must be tried. But… the only way we can figure out what the system is, is if everyone says what they did. Tell them how you participated.” Chappelle is not an expert on gender relations — and has [been criticized for victim-blaming women](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/02/arts/television/dave-chappelle-netflix-special.html?%5Fr=0) in his new specials. But he has a point. Different sexes, not unlike different races, need to find a way to co-exist and work together both without fear of being harassed, belittled or assaulted and without needing to worry about having their overtures or jokes weaponized. Moreover, while there are some offenders, including Harvey Weinstein, for whom redemption is hard to imagine, there are others whose transgressions should not necessarily erase their contributions, both past and future. (Chappelle seems to feel C.K. fits in this latter category.) Nobody should get off scot-free, since many women took considerable risks to bring these abuses to light. But if it’s culture change we’re after, not much is as useful as a public 360-degree accounting of the problem. How would a gender-based TRC work? According to Ilan Lax, a lawyer who was a member of the human rights violations committee and the amnesty committee of the South African commission and was a policy advisor involved in the setting up of the TRC in Sierra Leone, commissions work best as a way to start a conversation. In South Africa, perpetrators and victims told their stories publicly. The testimonies were recorded, and a panel decided whether amnesty was warranted. “For many victims of apartheid what had to change was that their reality needed to be affirmed,” says Lax. “Until your reality is affirmed you feel like you’re a bit mad.” An example of the value of the public acknowledgment was just played out between Dan Harmon, the showrunner of the cult TV hit _Community_ and one of the show’s former writers, Megan Ganz, who accused him on Twitter of harassing her. On [his podcast](http://www.harmontown.com/2018/01/episode-dont-let-him-wipe-or-flush/), Harmon goes to considerable lengths to not just apologize but fully detail what he did. “I crushed on her and resented her for not reciprocating it, and the entire time I was the one writing her paychecks and in control of whether she stayed or went and whether she felt good about herself or not, and said horrible things,” says Harmon. “Things I never, ever would have done if she had been male.” Ganz, for her part, urged people to listen to the podcast (the apology begins just after the 18-minute mark). “What I didn’t expect was the relief I’d feel just hearing him say these things actually happened,” Ganz [wrote](https://twitter.com/meganganz/status/951373404485033985). “I didn’t dream it. I’m not crazy. Ironic that the only person who could give me that comfort is the one person I’d never ask.” She added that it felt important to say publicly that she forgave him. Public processes undertaken by the victims and perpetrators like this could be a more constructive outlet for reprisals against decades of injustice than the current hodgepodge accuse-and-destroy or pass-along-rumors method. It might encompass more than just those who are famous enough to make it into the media. It might bring about something far more substantive than the current rare confessionals. And it would be a lesson for future generations on how to seek justice, how to make amends and how to forgive. South Africa’s TRC became a prominent example of what’s known as restorative justicand has been echoed in dozens of similar processes since, from Sierra Leone to the Solomon Islands to [Canada](http://leaderpost.com/news/local-news/a-state-of-race-revisiting-truth-and-reconciliation) and [the U.S.](http://www.yesmagazine.org/peace-justice/finally-the-us-steps-closer-to-racial-healing-with-a-national-truth-and-reconciliation-commission-20160413) While it could only provide a platform for relatively few victims to testify, says Lax, “the process contributed to a better picture of context, motives of those involved and affected and better understanding of what had transpired and why.” Perhaps [the new council headed up by Anita Hill](http://variety.com/2017/film/news/anita-hill-sexual-harassment-commission-1202643105/) could perform a similar function today. If people speak frankly of what was done to them and what they did, all the muck is cleared out of the system, and we can see where the problem areas are. The South African commission revealed key details about how police covered up the killing of the anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko in custody, for example; the more recent Canadian commission on residential schools for aboriginals showed they were [systematically wiping out a culture](https://www.vice.com/en%5Fus/article/7bdbpz/the-trc-report-is-not-only-a-history-of-residential-schools-but-a-history-of-canada) under the guise of education. Admittedly, the original TRC failed in many key regards. “Long-term race relations are still very fraught,” says Anthea Garman, an associate journalism professor at Rhodes University, South Africa, who covered the special hearings into media complicity with apartheid. Not all of its recommendations were followed. “The systemic ordinary everyday racism managed to escape the focus so that the ‘beneficiaries’ of apartheid weren’t challenged about their complicity.” Moreover, while reparations were promised to victims, and prosecution recommended for the worst perpetrators, there was very little follow-up. Lax points to the failure or inability of the South African government to follow the Commission’s recommendations as one of the reasons that race relations aren’t better in the country. And the TRC couldn’t do much about the economic, political and social systems that did not also undergo the same kind of reckoning or were not robust enough to implement the TRC’s suggestions about punishment or reparations. Nevertheless, it was a good way of shining a light on issues that had been long hidden in that society, to narrow down what former Liberal Party of Canada leader Michael Ignatieff has called “the permissible lies” people tell about their own society. And it could be an important first step on the path to gender harmony, even if the movement takes generations. Lax says the most common message he gives to people seeking to mend their large national rifts is this: _Reconciliation is a journey, not an event._ Or, as Chappelle puts it to women in his special_:_ “You got all the bad guys scared, and that’s good. But the minute they’re not scared anymore, it will get worse than it was before. Fear does not make lasting peace.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5022229/metoo-dave-chappelle-truth-reconciliation/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5022229/metoo-dave-chappelle-truth-reconciliation/"},"headline":"A Radical Idea for Predatory Men: Confession, then Amnesty","datePublished":"2018-01-16T21:00:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T18:13:34.916Z","description":"It has worked for other revolutions","url":"https://time.com/5022229/metoo-dave-chappelle-truth-reconciliation/","keywords":["Culture","society","gender","World","MeToo"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt40b6ddb09bace5e4/6988f86de76ad28cc7630a3d/dave-chappelle-truth-reconciliation-netflix-metoo-louis-ck.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Belinda Luscombe","jobTitle":"Editor at Large","url":"https://time.com/author/belinda-luscombe/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt40b6ddb09bace5e4/6988f86de76ad28cc7630a3d/dave-chappelle-truth-reconciliation-netflix-metoo-louis-ck.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Saturday Night Live - Season 42","caption":"Saturday Night Live - Season 42","creditText":"Will Heath—NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/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":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/culture/","name":"Culture"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5022229/metoo-dave-chappelle-truth-reconciliation/","name":"A Radical Idea for Predatory Men: Confession, then Amnesty"}}]}] ```