Hillary Clinton makes an appearance in Wednesday’s episode of the Comedy Central series Broad City. The show’s co-creator-stars Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson have publicly insisted the cameo is not a political endorsement. But you’d be forgiven for assuming exactly the opposite, given their ecstatic reaction to meeting the former secretary of state in a video clip from the episode that went online Tuesday.
In it, Clinton shows up at an “Elect Hillary” campaign office where Glazer’s character works. And the two performers become slack-jawed with awe, trembling with excitement and repeatedly exclaiming the word “YASS” when the candidate comes over to wink at them.
At a time when Clinton’s campaign has taken heat for failing to connect with female voters, especially millennials, the comedians’ showcase for her candidacy arrives as the latest public affirmation by a roll call of famous women.
Last week Shonda Rhimes, the influential television show runner behind Scandal, Grey’s Anatomy and How to Get Away With Murder, appeared in a pro-Hillary ad featuring her shows’ female stars Kerry Washington, Ellen Pompeo and Viola Davis. Britney Spears called the candidate “an inspiration and beautiful voice for women around the world!!!” on Instagram.
Singers Demi Lovato and Katy Perry performed at Clinton rallies in Iowa. Boldfaced names including Olivia Wilde, Kim Kardashian, America Ferrera and Kendall Jenner have taken to social media to voice their support for the former Clinton. Salma Hayek sent an email to Democrat voters voicing her endorsement. “I’m proud to help launch Latinos for Hillary,” Hayek wrote.
And in January Lena Dunham, the creator and star of HBO’s Girls, hit the campaign trail for Clinton, traveling across New England and the midwest to attend rallies and meet supporters.
“I believe that nothing will send a stronger message to America and the world at large than electing a competent, experienced, and brilliant woman to the highest office in the land,” Dunham, 29, wrote of her trip in a travelogue for Clinton’s campaign website. “Our first female president would sent a message that we are here. We are ready to lead. In fact, she has been leading all along.”
Speaking at a panel discussion about the third season of Broad City at Austin, Texas’ SXSW Festival Saturday, Jacobson and Glazer said they came up with the Clinton plot line a year ago with no expectation the candidate would agree to take part in the show. “The scene is Abbi and Ilana freaking out meeting Hillary Clinton, so we just freaked out,” Jacobson said. “We freaked out super hard to her face.”
The comedians insisted, however, that her appearance on the show is not intended as an endorsement of the former governor’s candidacy.
“I think that we were not trying to make a political statement,” Jacobson said. “Our writing process is that we wrote season three a year ago, and we weren’t like—that’s not our show really—‘Let’s make a political stance here.’ It’s really more that this is something that Ilana’s character would do.”
Chris Lee is a former staff writer for Entertainment Weekly, The Los Angeles Times, Newsweek and The Daily Beast. He covers entertainment, culture and business in Los Angeles.
