Former Rep. Katie Hill’s old government Twitter account was commandeered Tuesday evening by “former staff” who expressed chagrin at an upcoming film adaptation of the disgraced congresswoman’s memoir and accused her of “abuse.”
The posters wrote that they are “disappointed in so many folks” including production company Blumhouse, writer Michael Seitzman, and The Handmaid’s Tale star Elisabeth Moss, who will play Hill in the movie based on the California Democrat’s memoir, “She Will Rise: Becoming a Warrior in the Battle for True Equality.”
“What happened to Katie Hill shouldn’t happen to anyone. But, this moment requires more nuance, as Katie Hill’s story – our story – is also one of workplace abuse and harassment,” the posters wrote in a 10-tweet thread.
Hill, who was elected in 2018, resigned from Congress in October of last year after admitting that she engaged in an “inappropriate” relationship with an unnamed female campaign staffer and apologizing for her actions. A blog published a topless photo of Hill and the woman as a “throuple” with Hill’s husband, who Hill was in the process of divorcing and blamed for the release of the intimate photos as revenge porn. Hill said her husband was abusive to her during their marriage.
The Twitter posters acknowledged it is an “incredibly sensitive situation” and said they “appreciate the instinct to defend our former boss, an LGBTQ+ woman who faced abuse from her husband,” but added that “Katie Hill can be both a victim and perpetrator.”
“Katie Hill is not a hero for women,” the posters wrote, adding that Hill caused “immense harm to the people who worked for her, many of whom were young women just beginning their careers in politics.”
The Twitter thread noted that Hill was never investigated by the House Ethics Committee and has not been “held accountable by anyone other than herself.”
“We encourage everyone to reflect deeply before taking her word at face value,” the thread advised.
“While Katie is certainly the survivor of abuse, we are not confident that she sufficiently acted to end her own patterns of inappropriate and abusive behavior,” the posters said. “In order to advance the #MeToo movement, we must be willing to acknowledge the problematic behaviors among those in our own communities.”
Hill quickly commented on the Twitter thread, saying her former government account was “hacked” and she had reported the matter to Twitter.
“Control of my account was immediately handed back to the House Clerk when I resigned, including password changes and access restrictions. God knows who hacked it from there,” Hill said.