In 1991, Clarence Thomas (played by The Wire's Wendell Pierce) was appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States. During his confirmation hearings, allegations of sexual harassment came out and a former employee, Anita Hill (Kerry Washington), captivated the nation with her testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. It was the first time sexual harassment was talked about in such a public way—yes, in 1991—and sparked many debates and changes in work places. Thomas was eventually appointed to the Supreme Court successfully.
The hearing tales are now being told in HBO's Confirmation. Get to know the players involved...
In 1991, Anita Hill (Scandal's Kerry Washington in the HBO movie) gave a private interview with the FBI that was later leaked to the press. In the interview, she alleged her former boss Clarence Thomas, who was going through Senate confirmation hearings for a seat on the Supreme Court, sexually harassed her. She was later called to testify in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the hearings captivated the nation. Hill said Thomas asked her out socially many times and described sexual subjects at work. Hill took a polygraph test that supported her claims, yet her allegations were called into question by many on the committee after she followed Thomas from job to job and saw him after her employment with his office ended. Hill worked with Thomas until 1983.
Other women came forward, but were not called to testify and Thomas was appointed to the Supreme Court successfully.
Hill is now a professor of social policy, law and women's studies at Brandeis University. She was the subject of the 2013 documentary, Anita, and has received numerous awards.
Clarence Thomas, now 67, was nominated to replace Thurgood Marshall on the Supreme Court as an associate justice in 1991. He previously served as Assistant Secretary of Education fro the Office for Civil Rights and as the Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. A Georgia native, Thomas was also a federal judge, appointed by President George H. W. Bush in 1989. That hearing wasn't anything like the 1991 hearing for his Supreme Court appointment. Toward the end of his confirmation hearings, allegations that he sexual harassed Anita Hill, a former colleague who worked under him at the Department of Education and EEOC. Hill went on to testify in front of the committee, as did Thomas, about the allegations. The Senate Judiciary Committee was split and the vote for Thomas' confirmation was sent to the entire senate and he was confirmed.
In 2010, Thomas' wife Virginia Thomas called Hill and left a message asking her to apologize for the events nearly 20 years after the senate hearings. "Good morning Anita Hill, it's Ginni Thomas," the message said. "I just wanted to reach across the airwaves and the years and ask you to consider something. I would love you to consider an apology sometime and some full explanation of why you did what you did with my husband. So give it some thought. And certainly pray about this and hope that one day you will help us understand why you did what you did. OK, have a good day."
Thomas is still on the Supreme Court.
Angela Wright (Jennifer Hudson) was one of two women who came forward and made statements to staffers in the Senate that supported Anita Hill's claims against Clarence Thomas. Wright worked under Thomas at the EEOC and alleged he made similar comments, but she was never called to testify during the hearings.
A Harvard law professor, Charles Ogletree (The Hunger Games' Jeffrey Wright) represented Anita Hill in 1991.
John Danforth (played by Law & Order: SVU veteran Bill Irwin), became the Republican senator from Missouri in the 1970 and retired from the senate in 1995. Danforth and Clarence Thomas had a history together, Thomas worked for him when Danforth was the attorney general for Missouri and later served as an aide in the Senate.
Danforth went on to become the United States' Ambassador to the United Nations.
In 1991, Joe Biden, the current vice president under Barack Obama, was the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman. His handling of the hearings was criticized after Angela Wright came forward with allegations against Clarence Thomas, but she never testified. Greg Kinnear plays Biden in the movie.
Modern Family's Eric Stonestreet went dramatic for the role of Kenneth Duberstein, the man tasked by President Bush with guiding Clarence Thomas through the confirmation process. And then Anita Hill came along, and well...
Everwood veteran Treat Williams plays Senator Edward Kennedy (yes, from Kennedy family), in the HBO flick. In the 1991 hearings, Kennedy was largely silent. Williams said he thinks Kennedy was torn about it, afraid of being torn apart for his own reputation. In his book True Compass, which came out after his death, Kennedy said the reason he didn't ask more questions was "less melodramatic and more procedural." He said Joe Biden, who was then the chairman, had appointed other senators as questioners and the added on hearings were subject to different rules. "I had been a regular questioner in the main part of the hearings," he wrote, "and I don't think anyone doubted my performance then."
Ricki Seidman (Grace Gummer) was the first Senate staffer Anita Hill told about the sexual harassment she said she received by Clarence Thomas. Gummer, who recently joined the cast of USA Network's Mr. Robot, said her character was in charge of investigating the justices of the Supreme Court and she's looking out for the truth.
Malcolm Gets, known for his stage work and Caroline in the City, said he is not portraying Senator Arlen Specter as a villain of the story. He said Specter was a "savvy, bright man." At the time, Specter said he felt Anita Hill's testimony was perjurious.
Shirley Wiegand, played by Parenthood's Erika Christensen in the HBO film, was a close friend of Anita Hill's when the testimony began.
The Good Wife standout Dylan Baker plays Orrin Hatch, the Republican senator from Utah who questioned whether or not Clarence Thomas discussed pubic hair on his Coke can and if he ever used the term "Long Dong Silver in conversation with Professor Hill," which Hill said happened during their time working together. The senator was a leading force in getting Thomas through the hearings.
Hatch assumed office in 1977 and is still there now as the most-senior Republican senator.
A Republican senator from Wyoming, Alan K. Simpson (played by Peter McRobbie), was described as the actor playing him as "vociferous" when Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas testified, hammering Hill and puffing Thomas up. In a recent interview, Simpson said he doesn't understand what Hill was really saying.
"I'd had a wife who'd had much more harassment than Anita Hill. And that's when I lost my marbles. I thought, what is this? I mean, for god's sake, what did he do? Well, nothing. 'Did he touch you?' 'No.' 'What is it?' 'He wanted to talk about Long Dong Silver and pubic hair and Coke cans.' 'Is that it? Is that it?' 'Yes, it is. I wanted you to be aware of his behavior,'" he said. "And so I was a monster. I was just pissed to the core."
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