Pro-Trump Guerilla Artist Takes Credit For Meryl Streep "She Knew" Posters

The “conservative Banksy” wanted to get back at Streep for her anti-Trump rhetoric.

Harvey Weinstein and Meryl Streep attend the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards
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Image via Getty/Kevin Winter

Harvey Weinstein and Meryl Streep attend the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards

Earlier this week, posters attacking Meryl Streep flooded the streets of L.A. In an interview with The Guardian, a conservative guerilla artist who calls himself “Sabo” claimed responsibility. Sabo, a 49-year-old ex-Marine, used the posters as payback for the Streep's criticism of Trump. He cites specifically her 2017 Golden Globes speech and role in The Post, which she has touted as a response to Trump’s attacks on “fake news.”

The posters made in Barbara Kruger’s style included the words “she knew” over a black and white picture of Streep sitting next to Harvey Weinstein. The posters were thought to be made in response to Rose McGowan’s accusation that Streep was one of Weinstein’s enablers. In his interview with The Guardian, the artist admitted that he didn’t have any specific knowledge indicating Streep knew about Weinstein’s abuse. "I wasn’t sitting in a room with her. I can’t say 100%," Sabo said. "But I’d say anyone in the (film) industry had a pretty good idea. I think she knew. Maybe she was providing Weinstein with the fresh meat.”

Streep responded to McGowan’s accusations in the letter shared via HuffPost denying that she had any knowledge of Weinstein’s decades of sexual misconduct. “I want to let her know I did not know about Weinstein’s crimes,” Streep said. “I wasn’t deliberately silent. I didn’t know. I don’t tacitly approve of rape. I didn’t know.”

But it seems like Sabo’s intention behind the posters was less heroic than defending victims of sexual violence. Instead, he claims the move is retaliation for attacks against Trump. “She’s swiping at us so we’re swiping back,” Sabo said. The artist has previously made work attacking Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Bernie Sanders, and others.

This news comes to light the same day an alt-right group claimed responsibility for sinking the audience ratings of Star Wars: The Last Jedi because the franchise included too many women. On a Twitter account that appears to belong to the artist, Sabo is attacking others in relation to Weinstein, including actress Jennifer Lawrence, by putting the words “she blew” over her face in the same style.

Of course, Sabo has no intention of attacking Trump, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by 21 women. “I don’t know a man who I’ve had a beer who doesn’t talk shit like that,” he told The Guardian when asked about Trump's comments on the Hollywood Access tape. “We don’t have proof of Trump doing it. Who am I to judge him on that?”

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