Time’s Up CEO Tina Tchen resigned Thursday in the wake of revelations that leaders of the sexual harassment victims’ advocacy group advised former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on how to handle allegations made against him.
In a statement posted to Twitter, Tchen — a partner at a Chicago law firm and the former chief of staff to Michelle Obama — said she’s “spent a career fighting for positive change for women” but she wasn’t the right person to lead the #MeToo-era organization at this time.
“I am especially aware that my position at the helm of TIME’S UP has become a painful and divisive focal point, where those very women and other activists who should be working together to fight for change are instead battling each other in harmful ways,” she wrote.
Tchen’s resignation comes on the heels of the departure of Roberta Kaplan, who stepped down as the chair of the board of directors Aug. 9.
Tchen has deep Chicago legal and political ties. She served as first lady Michelle Obama’s chief of staff for most of her time at the White House. During that time, she led the White House Council on Women and Girls, which went dormant during the Trump administration.
After leaving the White House, Tchen went on the lecture circuit for a time and in 2017 began leading the Chicago office of the Buckley Sandler law firm. The firm serves the financial sector, including banks and credit card, mortgage and auto loan and financial-technology companies.
Her name also turned up in a high-profile legal case involving former actor Jussie Smollett, who reported he was a victim of a hate crime on a downtown Chicago street only to be later charged with allegedly orchestrating the crime. Officials later revealed Tchen emailed Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx saying the actor’s family had unspecified “concerns about the investigation.” Tchen, a close friend of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s wife, said she was acting on behalf of the “Empire” actor and his family. A relative later exchanged texts with Foxx.
An Ohio native, Tchen graduated from Northwestern Law and became a partner in the Chicago office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. She was active on the boards of entities such as University of Chicago Medicine and Chicago Public Library.
baiduhai’s Lisa Donovan contributed.