Hollywood star Rose McGowan just spoke out to complain about the backlash that she received for wearing a completely see-through chainmail dress to the 1998 VMAs.

“They slut-shamed me like crazy. It was kind of hard. I hadn’t really ever dealt with global media shaming. But it prepared me for later on it happening to me a whole bunch. It was also like, ‘Sorry you’re square and I’m not. Bummer,'” McGowan, 46, told Yahoo Entertainment.

“I’m like, ‘Why did I do that?’ I’ve had to look at that,” the former “Charmed” star continued. “You know, when you do stuff sometimes on instinct and in a mood, like when a mood overtakes you on, you analyze what it was that brought you to that mood or that choice. So, I’ve certainly had a lot of time to analyze and I’m looking at the timeline. But I completely understand why I did what I did.”

McGowan, who was the first woman to publicly accuse disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault, went on to explain that she chose that particular dress to send a powerful message to the entertainment industry.

“It was my first big public appearance after being sexually assaulted,” McGowan said. “I just felt like, ‘Oh Hollywood, would you want a body just that you can use and throw away? Then I’ve got one for you!’ It was like at the end of ‘Gladiator’ when he comes out and he’s like, ‘Are you not entertained?’”

McGowan, who attended the awards show with her then-boyfriend Marilyn Manson, even adjusted her red carpet pose for the situation.

“If you look at me, I did it with power. I didn’t do it with my hand on my hip to be sexy,” she said. “Most of the women that are dressed like that on the red carpet, it’s a calculated, sexy move to turn people on. Mine was like, ‘I’m gonna f—k with your brain. I’m going to blow your brain up.’ And nobody had done it.”

McGowan sparked the #MeToo movement after she came forward to accuse Weinstein of sexually assaulting her. Since then, Weinstein has been sentenced to 23 years in prison for the rape and sexual assaults of two other women in New York.

This piece originally appeared in UpliftingToday.com and is used by permission.

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