There is growing outrage over an HBO film that focuses on the Senate confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Critics claim that the "docudrama", set to air on HBO this Saturday, inaccurately portrays the events surrounding the testimony of Anita Hill, Thomas' former assistant who made accusations of sexual harassment against him while working for him in the late eighties.
Thomas is considered by some to be the most conservative member of the Supreme Court.
Critics in the conservative movement, including senators who were involved in the hearings, are trying to dispel the film's many inaccuracies and have started an online campaign to inform the public as to what really occurred, pointing out the many contradictory statements Hill made in her testimony before the Senate.
These inconsistencies and omissions include the fact that Hill willingly followed Thomas to a new job and continued to work for him despite the alleged harassment that she claimed to have been subjected to. Additionally, Hill continued to initiate contact with Thomas on multiple occasions following the allegations
Mark Paoletta, the former George H. W. Bush administration lawyer who helped usher Clarence Thomas through his Supreme Court confirmation hearings 25 years ago, has launched the website confirmationbiased.com to correct what he describes as misrepresentations and falsehoods in a new HBO movie, Confirmation, which focuses on Anita Hill’s sexual harassment accusations against Thomas in 1991.
A video on the website exposes "five inconvenient facts" the HBO movie ignores.
“This HBO film is as realistic as Game of Thrones,” Paoletta said in a statement. “For 25 years, Justice Thomas’ ideological opponents have tried to re-litigate baseless accusations made against him by Anita Hill and to ignore her multiple contradictions. Those of us who were at the hearings have an obligation to set the record straight.”
Former senators, including Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.) have also weighed in on the controversial film.
“Anita Hill looks good" Simpson said of the movie's depiction. "Clarence Thomas looks bad, and the rest of us look like bumbling idiots.”
Former Sen. John Danforth (R-Mo.), one of Thomas's leading defenders during the hearings, also criticized the historical accuracy of the upcoming film.
“The film contains scenes that never happened and conversations that never occurred," said Danforth. "Some scenes that did happen are portrayed with significant inaccuracies.”