“SNL” was noticeably devoid of any references to the Harvey Weinstein scandal last week, but this week The show dedicated a sketch to that very topic.
The sketch took the form of a panel of actresses at the Lincoln Center tackling the topic of sexual harassment in Hollywood, with Cecily Strong as Marion Cotillard, Leslie Jones as Viola Davis and Kate McKinnon as her recurring character Debette Goldry, a Golden Age Actress who had quite a choice anecdote to share about Weinstein.
McKinnon’s Goldry kicked off the discussion with a monologue comparing back in the day to what’s going on in the world right now.
“Have I ever experienced sexual harassment in Hollywood? Good Friday, where do you want me to start? Women being harassed is Hollywood. Everything old is new again. Producers are abusing starlets. There’s Nazis marching in the street. And suddenly nude pantyhose are on trend. I have never felt more at home. When’s polio coming back? That’s going to be fun.”
Later, Goldry provided the anecdote I teased previously, in which she had a personal encounter with Weinstein.
“I actually did have one meeting with Harvey,” she said. “I was invited to his hotel room. When I arrived he was naked hanging upside down from a monkey bar. Tried to trick me into thinking his genitals were actually his face. It almost worked. The resemblance is uncanny.”
Goldry also described how women in Hollywood back in the day had a code phrase to talk about the various evil things men in power did to them.
“Back then we had a secret code among us actresses to warn each other about the creeps,” McKinnon’s Goldry said. “The code was ‘he raped me.’ That way if men were listening they would tune us out. Easy peasy.”