| View this email in your browser. November 22, 2021
Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Time’s Up is starting over, Lael Brainard is Biden’s pick for Fed vice chair, and international tennis wants proof of the welfare of player Peng Shuai. Have a productive Monday.
– Tennis bands together. Since early this month, tennis officials and stars have been seeking to ascertain the welfare of Peng Shuai. After the 35-year-old Chinese tennis player accused a high-ranking Chinese official of sexual assault and a coercive relationship, her online accounts went silent. (Zhang Gaoli, 75, is a former vice premier of China. He hasn’t commented on the allegations directly.) No one had seen or heard from Peng for more than a week before video snippets said to show her at tennis events and a Beijing restaurant were posted online.
But yesterday, the International Olympic Committee said its leaders spoke to Peng, a three-time Olympian, via video chat for 30 minutes. “She is safe and well, living at her home in Beijing, but would like to have her privacy respected at this time,” the organization said in a statement.
Is that enough? The Women’s Tennis Association still hasn’t been able to independently reach Peng—and it’s amping up the pressure. The player’s video chat doesn’t “alleviate or address the WTA’s concern about her well-being and ability to communicate without censorship or coercion,” a WTA spokesperson said. The organization has made clear that it won’t hold tournaments in China without first confirming Peng’s well-being and freedom, a decision that could cost the association hundreds of millions of dollars thanks to a 10-year tournament deal in Shenzhen. WTA Tour CEO Steve Simon has been especially vocal in his criticism of China and advocacy for players’ safety.
“We have to start, as a world, making decisions that are based upon right and wrong, period,” Simon said in a CNN interview. “We can’t compromise that, and we’re definitely willing to pull our business and deal with all the complications that come with it. Because this is bigger than the business.” The WTA is demanding Peng’s safety, a full investigation of her accusation, and her ability to speak freely about her experience.
That stance contrasts with the IOC, which is preparing to host the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing in just a few months. Critics already objected to the IOC’s choice of host country because of China’s alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang, its crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong, and censorship of business and cultural figures. Peng’s treatment and safety is now another issue prompting criticism of Beijing 2022.
The case is quickly becoming the highest-profile #MeToo allegation in China; the NYT reports that it marks the “first time” such an allegation has “touched the pinnacles of Communist Party power.”
In a solitary sport like tennis, Peng doesn’t have teammates to rally around her. But her tennis peers around the world remain concerned about her, like Serena Williams, who said last week (before the IOC video call) that she was “devastated and shocked to hear about the news of my peer, Peng Shuai. I hope she is safe and found as soon as possible. This must be investigated and we must not stay silent.”
Emma Hinchliffe
[email protected]
@_emmahinchliffe
The Broadsheet, Fortune’s newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women, is coauthored by Kristen Bellstrom, Emma Hinchliffe, and Claire Zillman. Today’s edition was curated by Emma Hinchliffe.
A note from Fortune $1 for first month Subscribe for the analysis you need without all the noise. Try Fortune for $1. ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
- Fed up. President Joe Biden is nominating Jerome Powell for a second term as Federal Reserve chairman, opting to make Fed governor Lael Brainard, who was a contender for the top job, vice chair. From that perch, Brainard could guide monetary policy as Powell's closest colleague. New York Times
- History exam. Well, that's one way to make history. While President Joe Biden underwent a routine colonoscopy on Friday, requiring anesthesia, he passed the powers of the presidency to Vice President Kamala Harris—briefly making her the first woman to serve as Acting President. CNN
- Top down. Jessica Barraza, a Tesla production associate, filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against the electric vehicle maker last week, alleging a climate of harassment at its California factory. She puts the blame for the harassment she describes experiencing on the factory floor on the company's leadership, saying the culture starts at the very top. Tesla didn't respond to requests for comment. Washington Post
- Build back better? Time's Up is starting from scratch. The anti-workplace harassment group will lay off all of its remaining staff to completely rebuild, following a scandal in which its leaders offered advice to the Cuomo administration when the former governor faced allegations of sexual harassment. Washington Post
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Vector Labs promoted Pamela James to VP, product.
CONTENT FROM MCKINSEY & COMPANY Women in financial services What's the state of gender and racial diversity in US financial services? An updated view on the corporate pipeline, as well as women’s day-to-day experiences, reveals some progress. But challenges in building an equitable, inclusive workplace persist. Read the article
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
- Countdown's on. Speaking of New York governors, Gov. Kathy Hochul has "seven months." That's how long is left before the primary election that will decide whether she will continue in the job after finishing up the term of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. She's using the brief window to enact policy priorities and campaign for her first gubernatorial election. New York Magazine
- Theranos trial. Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes took the stand in her fraud trial last week, as prosecutors brought their case to a close and her defense team got started. Plus, did Theranos's deceit and failure kick off a more adversarial relationship between Silicon Valley and the press?
- Style reporting. Three senators (Maine's Susan Collins, New Hampshire's Jeanne Shaheen, and Alaska's Lisa Murkowski) wrote to the New York Times to criticize the paper's coverage of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema's clothing and style, saying a male senator wouldn't be covered in the same way. Tressie McMillan Cottom, who has authored much of the analysis, explained why, again, in her most recent piece: "Part of the job of politicians is to court attention and manage their image. ... Since presentation and style are part of the politician’s tool kit, the question for us is whether we are willing to allow this kind of political communication to go unexamined and without critique."
- Docuseries to watch. Airing soon on HBO is the documentary Black and Missing, an exploration of why the disappearances of Black women and girls often go unreported in comparison to the media frenzies surrounding missing white women. Derrica Wilson and Natalie Wilson, co-founders of the Black and Missing Foundation, take the filmmakers with them as they help families looking for their loved ones, often without the attention of law enforcement. Guardian
ON MY RADAR
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PARTING WORDS
"It’s only in that honesty that we can even get close to producing journalism that is reflective of the realities of our communities."
-Nikole Hannah-Jones on the problem with the tradition of "objective journalism." The journalist and 1619 Project author is on the cover of Essence.
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