Ivanka Trump, Jane Walker, Monica Lewinsky: Broadsheet Feb. 27

Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Monica Lewinsky weighs in on #MeToo, Ivanka and Melania Trump spend the day in the limelight, and Ryan Seacrest is the latest celebrity accused of sexual misconduct. Have a productive Tuesday.

EVERYONE'S TALKING

• Trump women in the news. Melania and Ivanka Trump's comments on recent controversies dominated the headlines yesterday:

Melania:

The first lady, in a rare public appearance, addressed the Parkland school shooting in a speech at the White House, saying that she found the students of Marjorie Stoneman Douglas inspiring: "I have been heartened to see children across this country using their voices to speak out and try to create change. They are our future and they deserve a voice." She also touched on cyberbullying, a topic she has discussed in the past, calling on parents to take a larger role in monitoring what their kids do on social media: "It is important that as adults, we take the lead and the responsibility in helping our children manage the many issues they are facing today," Trump said.

She did not address a recent tweet by Lauren Hogg, the sister of outspoken Parkland student David Hogg, who called on the first lady to "have a convo with your step-son @DonaldJTrumpJr." According to Hogg, her family had received death threats since Donald Jr., appeared to endorse a conspiracy theory about her brother on Twitter.

Ivanka:

Ivanka Trump also discussed the Parkland shooting, saying in an NBC News interview that her father's idea of arming teachers has its merits. "I think that having a teacher who is armed who cares deeply about her students or his students and who is capable and qualified to bear arms is not a bad idea, but it is an idea that needs to be discussed," she said.

In the same interview, but on an entirely different subject, the first daughter told interviewer Peter Alexander that asking whether she believes the women who have accused her father of sexual misconduct was "a pretty inappropriate question to ask." She continued: “I believe my father. I know my father. I think I have that right as a daughter to believe my father.” Cue many, many think pieces pointing out that Ivanka is not only President Trump's daughter, but also a White House senior advisor—and making the case for the "appropriateness" of Alexander's question.

ALSO IN THE HEADLINES

• Monica reflects on #MeToo. In this op-ed, Monica Lewinsky writes that the #MeToo movement has changed the way she considers her relationship with President Bill Clinton—which she had heretofore seen as consensual. "I’m beginning (just beginning) to consider the implications of the power differentials that were so vast between a president and a White House intern. I’m beginning to entertain the notion that in such a circumstance the idea of consent might well be rendered moot." Vanity Fair

• No more power pickers? Fidelity Investments, led by CEO Abby Johnson, is considering abandoning its "star stock-picker" structure (in which junior analysts to support a lead portfolio manager) in favor of a team-based approach. The possible changes are reportedly "part of a reckoning under way inside the equity division, which for years dealt quietly with accusations of sexual harassment and other misconduct." The mutual fund recently forced out several portfolio managers following complaints of sexual harassment and other abusive behavior. Wall Street Journal

• Seacrest in the hot seat. Suzie Hardy, who worked as a personal stylist for Ryan Seacrest on his E! News show, is accusing the television personality of sexual misconduct. Hardy accuses Seacrest of years of unwanted sexual aggression, including "grinding his erect penis against her while clad only in his underwear, groping her vagina, and at one point slapping her buttock so hard that it left a large welt still visible hours later." Seacrest has repeatedly denied Hardy’s claims. Variety

• Punishing parenthood. Sociology professor Kate Weisshaar sent 3,374 fictional resumes to job listings in 50 different cities. Each resume represented one type of candidate: 1) a currently employed parent with no employment gaps 2) an unemployed parent and 3) a stay-at-home parent. Even though everything else about the resumes was the same, the employer interest in each type of candidate was dramatically different: While 15% of the employed mothers and fathers got called back, the percentages dropped to 10% and 9% for unemployed moms and dads, and 5% for stay-at-home parents. Harvard Business Review

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Coins2Day alum Stephanie Mehta is the newest editor-in-chief of Fast Company. Emily Tisch Sussman has been promoted to VP of Campaigns at The Center for American Progress, the largest progressive think tank in Washington D.C.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

• I only drink Jane Walker. Whiskey brand Johnnie Walker is rolling out a female version of its iconic logo—named Jane Walker—in an attempt to attract more female drinkers. The feminizing of logos isn't new: Reba McEntire became the first woman to play KFC’s Colonel Sanders last month and Brawny debuted the Brawny Woman last year. NYMag has a tongue-in-cheek list of "15 Other "Mascots We’d Like to See As Women, for Some Reason." (The Burger Queen and Ronalda McDonalda are personal favorites.) Time

• Another Angela? The next chancellor of Germany may very well be another woman. Angela Merkel's chosen heir apparent seems to be Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the Christian Democrat party's general secretary (a post once occupied by Merkel herself). The German news media even call her "mini-Merkel." New York Times

• Dash to D.C.? Stacey Dash, the actor best know as Dionne from the 90s film Clueless, is running for Congress in California. Dash, a conservative former Fox News commentator and vocal Trump supporter is a polarizing figure: In 2016, she called the #OscarsSoWhite boycott "ludicrous" and said there was no need for Black History Month. Time

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