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Street artist Sabo takes credit for ‘She knew’ posters targeting Meryl Streep

Meryl Streep was targeted earlier this week with a “She knew” poster campaign by street artist Sabo.
(Brent N. Clarke / Associated Press)
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Street artist Sabo has put a name to the “She knew” posters featuring Meryl Streep and Harvey Weinstein that mysteriously appeared earlier this week in and around Los Angeles: his own.

The L.A.-based, right-wing artist — who on Tuesday tweeted that he had “absolooooooolutely nothing” to do with the posters while at the same asking people to retweet a link to a Hollywood Reporter story — took credit for them Wednesday on behalf of what he called a “group effort.”

The Streep posters, which imply that the actress knew about the producer’s alleged track record of sexual misconduct, went up Tuesday in Pasadena, near Hollywood & Highland and by 20th Century Fox in Century City.

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They show a smiling Streep posing with a happy Weinstein, with “She knew” emblazoned in white text on a red stripe that covers her eyes.

Also on Wednesday, Sabo tweeted an image of Weinstein with Jennifer Lawrence, her eyes similarly covered by an even less flattering and salacious hashtag. On Thursday, he tweeted a picture of a poster for the new movie “The Post” doctored to put the words “I knew” and “We all knew” in Streep and costar Tom Hanks’ mouths. “They all knew,” he wrote.

The street artist has rejected the notion that the “She knew” poster was inspired by the work of artist Barbara Kruger, saying on social media that the idea sprang from an image in “The Post,” which stars Streep as Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham.

That image shows President John F. Kennedy with the word “LIAR” on a black bar covering his eyes.

Regarding what Streep did or didn’t know about Weinstein, Sabo told the Guardian on Wednesday, “I wasn’t sitting in a room with her. I can’t say 100%. But I’d say anyone in the [film] industry had a pretty good idea.”

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The actress has said repeatedly that she didn’t know about Weinstein’s actions.

The Oscar winner has spent the week on the defensive. She was called out over the weekend by actress Rose McGowan, one of Weinstein’s most vocal accusers. McGowan mentioned Streep by name in a tweet critical of actresses who intend to wear black on the Golden Globes red carpet as a silent protest in January.

“Actresses, like Meryl Streep, who happily worked for The Pig Monster, are wearing black @GoldenGlobes in a silent protest. YOUR SILENCE is THE problem. You’ll accept a fake award breathlessly & affect no real change. I despise your hypocrisy. Maybe you should all wear Marchesa,” McGowan said Saturday in a since-deleted tweet, referencing the clothing line belonging to Weinstein’s estranged wife.

Streep responded by saying she was sorry the “Charmed” alum saw her as an adversary. “I wasn’t deliberately silent,” Streep said Monday in a statement to the Huffington Post. “I didn’t know. I don’t tacitly approve of rape. I didn’t know. I don’t like young women being assaulted. I didn’t know this was happening.”

Under the #SheKnew hashtag on Thursday, McGowan tweeted a picture of attorney Lisa Bloom with former client Weinstein.

A representative for Streep did not respond to requests for comment. Sabo didn’t immediately respond to inquiries sent by email and through social media, either.

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cdz@latimes.com

@theCDZ on Twitter and Instagram

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