Time people of the year are a group of women called the 'Silence Breakers'
A picture shows the message "Me Too" during a gathering against gender-based and sexual violence in the wake of the wave of allegations targeting Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. (Sipa via AP Images)
The Time person of the year is not actually one person.
Rather, they are a group of people the magazine named “The Silence Breakers.”
They are the “women whose individual acts of courage have led to the biggest cultural reckoning we’ve seen in decades,” the magazine editors wrote.
“The powerful voices of the women on our cover—Ashley Judd, Susan Fowler, Adama Iwu, Taylor Swift, Isabel Pascual —along with hundreds of others and many men, have confronted power with truth.”
The magazine's editor in chief, Edward Felsenthal, told the "Today" show that the #MeToo movement represented the "fastest-moving social change we've seen in decades."
In October, the New York Times first published a story about how multiple women, including Judd and fellow actress Rose McGowan, accused Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment. The New Yorker followed with a long piece on his alleged sexual assault.
At first, people in Hollywood were reluctant to talk. But the floodgates soon opened, and the hashtag #MeToo was reignited.
That hashtag was actually created in 2006 by social activist and community organizer Tarana Burke who was trying to promote "empowerment through empathy" among women of color who have experienced sexual abuse, particularly within underprivileged communities.
The women's photographs were taken for the Time photo shoot in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
President Donald Trump was runner up on Time's list, which had also included former 49er Colin Kaepernick.