As if we needed further proof of Hollywood’s disingenuous self-aggrandizing while in fact doing the exact opposite of everything they claim to preach, here’s yet another example: a disgraced former congressional representative who took sexual advantage of a staffer is set to become the focal point in a new movie that paints the whole sordid mess as a sob story painting said trashy lawmaker as a hero.
Or rather, I should say, heroine.
Katie Hill, a former congresswoman from California and a brief darling of both the Democratic party and the liberal media, officially resigned from her elected position in the U.S. House of Representatives in October of 2019 after the House Ethics Committee launched an inquiry into several photos and text messages that were publicized showing Hill in an illicit sexual relationship with at least one of her staffers, a female campaign worker who had been engaged in a “throuple” relationship with Hill and her husband, Kenny Heslep. Several of the photos showed the congresswoman topless and engaged in sexual situations, while another featured her holding a bong.
But that’s not how a new movie, based on Hill’s yet-to-be-released book, will tell the story. According to Variety’s description, the tome “She Will Rise: Becoming a Warrior in the Battle for True Equality” and its film adaptation tell the tale like this:
In the book, Hill recounts her experience as a young woman with no prior political experience whose charm, and common sense won over the people in her district and thrust her into the halls of power in Washington. While her brash confidence won her powerful allies and infuriated her enemies, it was privately concealing a cycle of domestic abuse she was trapped in at home, infamously culminating in the release of intimate photos and the revelation of her own admitted personal mistakes that would eventually result in her stunning fall from grace.
The movie will star “Handmaid’s Tale” headliner Elisabeth Moss, who said she’s “so honored to have the opportunity to portray Katie and to help tell her story.”
“Her strength and work to amplify women’s voices is incredibly inspiring to me and her experiences could not be more important for us to magnify right now,” Moss said.
Ah, yes. In the age of “#MeToo,” when a man who had an elicit sexual threesome with his spouse and a coerced female staffer would have elicited him exactly zero sympathy (nor, I might add, should it), Hill, who has blamed her abrupt exit from Congress on sexism and "biphobia," will instead be held up as the misunderstood victim in her own twisted love affair, during which many on her congressional team accused her of harassing employees.
Tweeting from Hill’s old official congressional Twitter account, someone(s) claiming to be the congresswoman-turned-director’s former staff sent out a tweet thread blasting Hollywood for twisting Hill’s story, which they claim is “also one of workplace abuse and harassment.”
“What happened to Katie Hill shouldn’t happen to anyone. But, this moment requires more nuance, as Katie Hill’s story - our story - is also one of workplace abuse and harassment,” Hill’s former staff tweeted, saying they were “very disappointed” in Kate Moss and others who’ve signed on to the movie.
“Katie took advantage of her subordinates. She caused immense harm to the people who worked for her, many of whom were young women just beginning their careers in politics,” they continued. “Workplace abuse and harassment can take many different forms, but one thing is certain: it is never okay, even if your boss is a woman and/or a survivor.”
“Katie Hill is not a hero for women. We deserve heroes who embody our values even in the most difficult moments.”
Hill, on the other hand, claims the Twitter account was "hacked."
(Cover Photo: Gage Skidmore)