'The Silence Breakers' win Time's Person of Year: Women who started the #MeToo movement and triggered the widespread sexual harassment scandal beat Trump to the 2017 title

The 'Silence Breakers' who started the #MeToo movement have been named Time 'Person of the Year'
Last year's winner, President Trump, and China's President Xi Jinping came in second and third place
Time Editor-in-Chief Edward Felsenthal called the movement 'the fastest moving social change we've seen in decades'
Ashley Judd and Taylor Swift grace the cover, as well as three regular women who took part in the movement
The announcement was made Wednesday morning on the Today show, exactly a week after co-host Matt Lauer was fired for sexual harassment allegations
Time's Person of the Year issue is due out on newsstands this Friday

By Ashley Collman For Dailymail.com and Chris Spargo For Dailymail.com and Associated Press

Published: 12:39 GMT, 6 December 2017 | Updated: 15:39 GMT, 6 December 2017

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Time has named 'The Silence Breakers' - the women behind the #MeToo movement - as their Person of the Year for 2017.

The announcement was made Wednesday morning on the Today show by the magazine's Editor-in-Chief Edward Felsenthal.

'This is the fastest moving social change we've seen in decades and it began with individual acts of courage by hundreds of women - and some men too - who came forward to tell their stories of sexual harassment and assault,' Felsenthal said.

President Trump, who himself has been accused of sexual assault, and China's President Xi Jinping were runner up and third place, respectively.

The women behind the #MeToo movement have been named Time Person of the Year. Back row (L-R): Actoress Ashley Judd and singer Taylor Swift. Middle row (L-R): Field worker Isabel Pascual and former Uber employee Susan Fowler. Front row: Adama Iwu, creator of the 'We Said Enough' campaign. Obscured is a hospital worker who declined to be identified

President Trump (left) and China's President Xi Jinping (right) were second and third place for the cover respectively

In the wake of sexual misconduct revelations about Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey and dozens of other men, millions worldwide have shared their stories about being sexually harassed and assaulted.

The movement began spontaneously in October after actress-activist Alyssa Milano followed on a suggestion from a friend of a friend on Facebook and tweeted: 'If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet.'

The brave women and men who have come forward this year have all moved the needle in terms of letting people know that this abuse of power shouldn't be tolerated.

Taylor Swift

The hashtag was tweeted nearly a million times in 48 hours. The #MeToo movement was founded by activist Tarana Burke on Twitter a decade ago to raise awareness about sexual violence.

Both Burke and Milano appeared on the Today show Wednesday morning to take part in the announcement.

The cover for the Person of the Year issued includes the likes of Taylor Swift, who testified in court about a radio DJ groping her. The issue includes Swift's first interview about the case since the trial.

Tarana Burke (left), who started the #MeToo hashtag, and actress Alyssa Milano (right), who helped spread the hashtag, appeared on the Today show as part of the new issue unveiling

She told the magazine: 'I think that this moment is important for awareness, for how parents are talking to their children, and how victims are processing their trauma, whether it be new or old. The brave women and men who have come forward this year have all moved the needle in terms of letting people know that this abuse of power shouldn't be tolerated.'

Ashley Judd also graced the cover as one of the first actresses to speak out against Weinstein.

Other women on the cover were less known, but just as essential to the movement.

Susan Fowler is a former Uber employee who spoke out about the toxic work environment at the company that eventually led CEO Travis Kalanick to lose his job.

Adama Iwu is a lobbyist who launched the campaign 'We Said Enough' in October to raise awareness of sexual harassment.

Actress Rose McGowan, one of Harvey Weinstein's accusers, appeared in a short promotional video for the new issue

Today's own Megyn Kelly appeared in the video as well, for her role taking down Roger Ailes

The Today show exclusively revealed the new Time cover exactly a week after Matt Lauer was fired from the show for sexual harassment allegations - the latest man to fall in the scandal

PRESIDENT TRUMP, RUNNER UP

Donny boy: President Trump was last year's Person of the Year

President Donald Trump was runner up for this year's Time Person of the Year, after claiming last year's title.

On November 24, Trump claimed that he was 'probably' going to be named Person of the Year for a second year in a row.

'Time Magazine called to say that I was PROBABLY going to be named “Man (Person) of the Year,” like last year, but I would have to agree to an interview and a major photo shoot. I said probably is no good and took a pass. Thanks anyway!' Trump tweeted

The magazine refused this comment on Wednesday, saying the interview had nothing to do with whether he was going to be named Person of the Year. Several Person of the Year winners in the past have not interviewed for the corresponding story, including the likes of Hitler.

'Trump's tweet was not accurate. TIME made no assurances and placed no conditions on the outcome of our editorial decisionmaking,' the magazine said.

Their story on the Silence Makers made sure to include the sexual harassment accusations against Trump - including former Apprentice contestant Summer Zermos.

The magazine said there was a strong case for making Trump #1 again however.

'One thing is sure: love him or hate him, Trump has invaded our attention in ways previous Presidents never did. He commands more than just the levers of executive power; he has the nation, and the world, in the grip of his singular performance, and events have bent to his will. '

Another woman included on the cover is Isabel Pascual, a Mexican migrant field worker who has also been the victim of sexual harassment.

One woman's face is partially obscured, a symbol of the women who chose to remain anonymous and the more that will come forward.

Felsenthal said that the woman who's face is hidden behind the fame is a hospital worker who spoke to the magazine 'but doesn't feel like she can come forward without threatening her livelihood.

The cover was perhaps an awkward one for Today co-hosts Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb to announce. It came exactly a week after the two were forced to announce the firing of their co-host Matt Lauer for similar allegations.

Their NBC co-worker Megyn Kelly, who hosts the third hour of the Today show, was part of a video to promote the cover, since she played her own role in bringing down Roger Ailes, CEO of her former network Fox.

'It has touched every industry. It obviously has hit very close to home here with the firing of Matt Lauer,' Guthrie said.

Rose McGowan, one of Harvey Weinstein's accusers was also featured in the video. In an interview with the magazine, she explained what it's like to to accuse a titan in the industry of sexual assault. But she said Weinstein is just one of the sexual predates out there preying on women.

'The bigger picture here is that he’s the monster of everybody. He’s what the boogie man looks like in every industry. And if you can slay that one, we can slay all of them.

'Yeah—collateral damage sucks, but also, don’t rape. Don’t sexually harass. Don’t f*** with my life. Don’t f*** with another woman’s life. Don’t f*** with that little girl. Don’t f*** with that old lady. Just get the f*** back. That’s generally my message,' she said.

The #MeToo movement was also up against Colin Kaepernick, Robert Mueller, Jeff Bezos, the Dreamers,Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins and Kim Jong Un of North Korea for the 2017 cover.

Time revealed the results of their reader's poll on Monday, which was won by Crown Prince bin Salman in overwhelming fashion, as he commanded 24 per cent of the vote versus the six per cent that runner-up the #MeToo movement received in the poll.

The new issue of Time with the 'Silence Breakers' on the cover will hit newsstands on Friday.