In the October 12 episode of the NBC comedy Great News, titled "Honeypot!" the crew is being subjected to sexual harassment in the workplace. Since it's a woman harassing the men, however, coworkers are hesitant to believe the truth, and it turns out the harasser is doing it in the name of workplace equality. In the course of discussing all of this, they make the expected jokes about Fox News and completely forced a joke about Benghazi.
With Harvey Weinstein news breaking several times a day (not that the liberal media is covering it), this episode could not have been more timely. When Greg (Adam Campbell) comes forward and tells Katie (Briga Heelan) that their boss Diana (Tina Fey) sexually harassed him, the other men at their tv station workplace come forward with their own stories as well. The women completely discount their stories, saying the men must have misunderstood, asking why they were in her office alone in the middle of the day and what they were wearing. By reversing the genders, it shone a light on the way women can be treated when they come forward after being sexually harassed, even saying that the Cosby jurors required "more than 60" women to come forward in order to come to a verdict.
Not satisfied to have an effective scene, they turned to politics. Portia (Nicole Richie) says that the men are making up the accusations because they can't stand having a woman for a boss. "This always happens. Men just can't stand seeing a woman in power, so they'll do anything to tear her down. Hillary 'Did Benghazi.'" I hate to break it to you, but she did. Then again, since these characters work in a news station, they probably weren't really into those facts.
When Katie finally confronts Diana about her behavior, it turns out that she had a fairly unusual reason for it - workplace equality.
Diana: I have fought for workplace equality for 25 years. I just want what the men get: $40 million to go away. Roger Ailes got 40 just for whipping it out. Billy Bush got 9 just for giggling about boobies. Bill O'Reilly got 25. But no, I just keep succeeding and succeeding and succeeding and using westbound international flights to create a 175-hour workweek. And now they wanna promote me again. I just wanna go away, Carol. Why won't they let me go away?
While it's true that these men got payouts when they were fired after allegations of inappropriate behavior, it's pretty weird that she couldn't come up with an example of a liberal man who had been accused of sexual harassment. It's not as though there aren't options from a powerful progressive PR firm to a president (and a Hollywood mogul, which Tina Fey seemed to know several years ago) from which to choose.
Besides, increasing the number of victims isn't really the kind of equality sane women have in mind. Actual victims wouldn't wish their experiences on anyone, even to prove a point. Two wrongs don't make a right.
Later, before she leaves for her next promotion, Diana says to Katie, "Maybe someday when you get to be in my position, we'll live in a world where a woman can be a creep and go home with a huge golden parachute," to which Katie replies, "That sounds like a world worth fighting for."
I'm pretty sure it's not.
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