Jenny McCarthy apologizes: Hillary lesbian joke made me a 'hypocrite'
July 26, 2014
TV personality and anti-vaccination crusader Jenny McCarthy apologized this week for a joke she made on The View, inferring that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton might be a lesbian.
In a column written for Splash, entitled 'Anti-Gossip Girl,' the former MTV game show host claimed she later felt remorse over the comment because it was in violation of her personal 'girl code' mission statement.
In the segment on The View, the panel was discussing an upcoming book containing a claim that Bill Clinton has a mistress known as the 'Energizer'.
A smiling McCarthy piped up saying "Well, maybe he has his girlfriends and she has her girlfriends, you never know," before adding "Maybe they have an arrangement."
McCarthy's comment came right after co-host Whoopi Goldberg pointed out that it doesn't matter whether a rumor is true or not because "it's been put out into the ether. Once you put it out there ... it's out there."
In her column, McCarthy revealed she now regrets making the joke.
"It’s one thing to say something “funny,” but then to turn around and be a hypocrite is another thing, " she explained. " I told a joke about Hillary Clinton — the topic was Bill Clinton and his alleged mistress nicknamed the “Energizer.” An upcoming book claims this mistress would see Bill on a regular basis and I made the joke that Bill has girlfriends and so does Hillary."
McCarthy continued on, explaining that she later realized her comment was in direct opposition to her belief in "female empowerment."
"Then a few topics later, we talked about a female CEO not helping other women in her workplace and my spiritual side felt excited to get out my personal mission statement about “girl code.” I stated that we women need to look out for one another. That we need to stop ripping on each other and empower one another, " she wrote. " This is something that is very important to me and I hold so close to my heart. That night, as I lay in bed and reflected on my day, I realized I was a hypocrite. How could I make a joke like that and then five minutes later preach about female empowerment? It makes me sad when I see women ripping on other women, and there I was making a joke about our possible first female president!"
McCarthy finished by saying she is a "work in progress."
Watch the video of McCarthy's appearance on The View, uploaded by Planet on YouTube, below: