When Lisa Borders announced her resignation this week as the inaugural chief executive of Time’s Up, she cited a need “to address family concerns that require my singular focus.”
Borders, 61, did not explain the circumstances behind her abrupt exit, which came after just four months on the job. But the Los Angeles Times has learned that Borders suddenly found herself at odds with the core mission of Time’s Up because of a desire to stand by a man — her son — facing allegations of sexual misconduct.
Borders stepped down four days after a 31-year-old Santa Monica woman alleged, in a Facebook post, that Borders’ 36-year-old son had been sexually inappropriate with her. People familiar with the situation who were not authorized to comment said Borders quickly brought the allegations to the attention of the Time’s Up board. The group and Borders, these people said, soon recognized that she was in an untenable position.
Celia Gellert told The Times that Borders’ son, a photographer, podcast host and life coach named Garry “Dijon” Bowden Jr., offered her a “healing session.” She said she was surprised and felt “violated” when, she alleged, he touched her genitalia, kissed her neck and brushed his erect but clothed penis against her body during the session.
An attorney for Bowden, Alan Jackson, disputed Gellert’s account, saying that Bowden was giving a healing massage that Gellert had requested. He showed The Times a text exchange in which Gellert thanked Bowden afterward, calling the massage “gentle and authentic and loving.”
“My client vehemently denies that any inappropriate or nonconsensual touching occurred at any time,” Jackson said.
Gellert went public with her experience on Facebook “because I don’t want it to happen to anyone else,” she said. “And I want to be strong and stand my ground and speak my truth.”