The Time's Up CEO told colleagues not to back the first woman who publicly accused Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment, report says

• Time's Up CEO Tina Tchen told colleagues not to back a woman who accused Cuomo of sexual harassment.
• According to messages obtained by The Washington Post, she told colleagues to "stand down."
• The group is under pressure over its ties to Cuomo, who resigned after sexual-harassment claims.

The head of Time's Up, the advocacy group set up in the wake of #MeToo, told colleagues not to offer support to the first woman who publicly accused former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of sexual assault, The Washington Post reported.

Tina Tchen, the group's president and CEO, told colleagues in a December 2020 text message to "stand down" and not issue a statement in support of Lindsey Boylan after she went public with the accusation about Cuomo, The Post reported.

Time's Up did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

In a statement to The Post, the organization said it was committed "to an independent review of our past actions, our current work as well as developing the processes and improvements necessary for furthering our mission."

Tchen told the publication that not commenting on Boylan's accusation was in line with the group's policy of "not commenting on self-reported statements" and that it did "not intend to silence Ms. Boylan or any survivor."

Time's Up was founded by Hollywood figures in response to the #MeToo movement, which saw women across the world share stories of sexist discrimination and sexual harassment after rape allegations emerged about Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein in 2018.

But in recent weeks the group has come under pressure for its ties with Cuomo, who resigned earlier in August after a report by the New York attorney general found that he sexually harassed 11 women during his 10 years in office.

The Post report provides new details of the communications between Cuomo aides and Time's Up executives about the response to Boylan's allegations, which were made in a series of tweets and substantiated by the attorney general's office.

On August 11 Roberta Kaplan, the chairwoman of Time's Up, resigned after the AG's report found that she had reviewed an op-ed - which was never published - that attacked Boylan's character, and advised Cuomo on his response to the allegations.

It was one of multiple efforts by Cuomo's inner circle to discredit Boylan, a former Cuomo aide, the AG's report said.