Kerry Washington Portrays Anita Hill, Clarence Thomas’ Supreme Court Hearing Revisited In ‘Confirmation’

Anita Hill’s allegations of sexual harassment against then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas will be revisited in an HBO special, Confirmation, which will air on April 16. Many Americans aren’t young enough to remember the televised confirmation hearings, but it was the talk of the early 90s.

Clarence Thomas was, eventually, confirmed and became a justice on the SCOTUS, and has served since 1991. However, pre-confirmation, Hill accused Thomas of using work situations to make sexual references. Some of the most salacious ones were alleged references Thomas made to “Long Dong Silver” and a question on how pubic hair made its way into his Coke.

Emmy-nominated Kerry Washington, of Scandal, will portray Hill, and Thomas will be depicted by Wendell Pierce. Per MSNBC, Washington had the opportunity to meet a reluctant Hill, who said, “I just don’t know that I want to relive this all again.”

At #WITW, Kerry Washington discussed portraying Anita Hill in HBO’s “Confirmation”: https://t.co/I4seYxXz9Kpic.twitter.com/EULFGZ68uo

— Women in the World (@WomenintheWorld) April 10, 2016

Pierce wasn’t able to meet with Thomas, but the actor said he was surprised at how alike and different he and the justice are. Both came from similar backgrounds, but are on opposite ends of the political spectrum.

Who is Clarence Thomas https://t.co/KayU2HTuLP pic.twitter.com/MfQpC6otHf

— Wendell Pierce (@WendellPierce) April 8, 2016

It was in 1991 that former President George H. W. Bush nominated Thomas to the Supreme Court. He would replace a Democrat, Thurgood Marshall, who was retiring after nearly 25 years. Thomas, an African-American conservative, had only served as a federal Circuit Judge for less than two years prior to the nomination, but no one questioned his character, that is, until an FBI interview with Hill was leaked to the media, noted the Washington Post.

Hill, who until then had led a quiet life, was called on to testify publicly when the hearings were reopened. Thomas was her supervisor at both the Department of Education and the EEOC. During the hearings, she was queried as to why she would have taken the second job if he had harassed her at the first one. Her response was that, at the time, she had no other job opportunities, wanted to work in civil rights advocacy, and the sexual talk had ceased.

According to Hill’s testimony, when she worked as Thomas’ assistant, he asked her out on many occasions. She refused and he then began discussing sex at work. Hill testified that Thomas spoke of rape, group sex, bestiality porn, and the then-supervisor’s own sexual prowess, including detailed descriptions of his genitalia.

Hill agreed to a polygraph test, which confirmed the truth of her statements, but on the other hand, the future SCOTUS justice refused. There were also four other women who were willing to testify on Hill’s behalf, but they were never called upon. Meanwhile, Thomas continued to deny the accusations and said liberal Democrats were out to vilify him as a black Republican. Thomas was confirmed in a 52-48 Senate vote.

The hearings were watched by millions. Race, gender, and power were on a collision course. Washington, who was 14 at the time, said her household was one where politics and issues were frequently talked about in the open. Her father looked at the Thomas’ interrogations as the destruction of a black man’s career and reputation, while her mother, a working African American woman, identified with Anita Hill. At the time, there were only white males on the Senate Judiciary Committee who sat in judgment on Thomas. Per Kerry, this was the first time she witnessed her parents not agreeing on a major issue, MSNBC also noted.

Although Thomas was confirmed, Anita Hill’s testimony brought sexual harassment into the open, and the following year, 1992, was declared “The Year of the Woman,” which saw women, such as Senator Dianne Feinstein, elected. Hill, who now serves as a law professor at Brandeis University, said she is comfortable and at peace with her place in history.

[Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images]