Oprah Winfrey hopes the Hollywood sex scandal proves to be a "seminal" moment for the movie industry

She said: "I'm not happy that it happened the way that it did, but this moment, I feel a seminal moment. It's a really powerful time for everybody to get woke.

"Not just about sexual harassment but about the way you view somebody who has less power than you do. This is really a question about power and the misuse and abuse of power.

"So I think it's a time for those of us who do hold some to come together and to see what we can do to further this moment that's actually happening."

Oprah's sentiment has been echoed by 'Selma' director Ava DuVernay, who hopes that the victims of abuse can turn their pain "into beauty".

And Ava is confident that is ultimately what will happen, because women have "always done that".

Speaking to 'Entertainment Tonight', the director explained: "I think we need to take the spotlight and turn it away from what these very foul, misguided, sexist, misogynistic, rapist, peadophiles have done and turn it to the people who have been harmed. And turn that pain to beauty.

"I think art is a way to do that, and so many of the women who have been affected by it are artists. I encourage, and bolster, and support women to find ways to turn that pain into beauty. I believe we will. We've always done that, so it'll happen again."