‘Time’ announces its Person of the Year is “the silence breakers”

The 2017 Time Person of the Year is “the silence breakers,” or the many women and some men who “came forward to tell their stories of sexual assault,” Edward Felsenthal, editor-in-chief of the magazine, announced on NBC’s Today on Wednesday morning.

The cover of the magazine included some of the more famous faces who had spoken out about their own experiences of sexual harassment and assault, as well as one woman whose face is not visible — a representation, Felsenthal said, of the many less-public women who have their own #MeToo stories.

Tarana Burke, who originated the #MeToo hashtag, appeared on NBC’s Today on Wednesday, saying that she sees the current reckoning as a “movement,” not a “moment.”

The runner-up on the Time list was President Donald Trump, who was last year’s Time Person of the Year shortly after his election. In November, Trump tweeted that Time had “called to say that I was PROBABLY going to be named ‘Man (Person) of the Year,’ like last year,” but that he “said [it] probably is no good and took a pass.”

Time disputed the president’s account, releasing a statement saying that “The president is incorrect about how we choose Person of the Year. Time does not comment on our choice until publication, which is Dec. 6.” On Wednesday, Felsenthal reiterated that the president was “incorrect” when he said the magazine had reached out to him about the honor.