Yahoo News Broad City's Ilana on firing crew for harassment
Broad City's co-creator and star Ilana Glazer came forward to detail her own experiences of sexual harassment in response to the #MeToo hashtag sweeping social media, revealing she had been questioned for deciding to fire two members of staff who had sexually harassed her on the set of her own show.
The hashtag was started by actress Alyssa Milano to prompt an international conversation about sexual harassment and abuse, in particular the sheer magnitude of sufferers of assault, in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein allegations.
Writing on Instagram, Ilana said she had endured harassment in middle school, in high school and as a waitress, and had recently filed a complaint about an uncomfortable experience with a doctor she described as "creepy".
#metoo - big queenly thanks to @tracelysette & @violadavis posting this so i felt brave enough to!
A post shared by ilana glazer (@ilanusglazer) on Oct 17, 2017 at 12:11pm PDT
She also disclosed that she had experienced harassment as a showrunner, and had fired a background actor and a sound guy for the behaviour, adding incredulously: "I was asked 'are you sure?' hm okay yeah lemme think for a sec- YEAH I'M F**KING SURE. cuz getting sexually harassed seems to be a constant, but having the opportunity to do something about it is rare."
Speaking about that particular incident to Digital Spy, Ilana commented: "I don't think people are used to young women being bosses.
"They haven't seen strong, smart, complicated, f**ked-up women represented, and we haven't in real lives. Representation... it really does play in our day-to-day lives and our perspectives of the world.
"These two examples on set – yes, they've never seen cute, short, young women [in charge]... They just aren't used to bosses being young, sexy, funny women.
"I'm not apologising for these men but the system is sick, and it's important that we keep showing what boss women look like."
Abbi Jacobson – who stars opposite Ilana in the critically-acclaimed comedy series – also pointed out that they have a duty to protect their female staff, who don't have the same platform to speak out or be heard.
"We run our show and people are talking about harassment against us as the bosses, but we also have women who work for us – it's also about protecting them and creating a safe set and an environment how we want it to be," she explaind.
But Ilana added that the campaign isn't just about women, applauding actors Terry Crews and James Van Der Beek for publicly sharing their experiences of sexual assault.
"Just having this conversation – certain men have come forward like Terry Crews and James Van Der Beek about their experiences, and it's brilliant," Ilana said.
"And this point we're just collecting data on honesty and reality, and the mainstream consciousness is reaching a new level because of the internet, and I think it's brilliant."
The comedy duo's fourth season of Broad City has returned to Comedy Central, and fans can expect more high-jinks and hilarity, as well as Ru Paul and Shania Twain in one episode.
The brand new series of Broad City airs on Tuesdays at 11pm on Comedy Central UK.
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