Enjoy Your Blood Money, Omarosa

I really wish I once saw a famous person being terrible. Doesn't matter if they were being sexist, racist, homo/transphobic, or just generally awful; it would just be awesome if I got to be in the same room when it happened.

Oh, I wouldn't do anything. I wouldn't speak up about how it's wrong. I wouldn't threaten to go to HR or the press. I certainly wouldn't quit my job because I don't want to stop making money. No, no, my plan is to wait for years -- years and years, until suddenly that famous person gets rocked by a major scandal and I can exploit it. Or maybe I'll wait until I'm irrelevant and need a quick career boost out of it, though that would only work if I used to be famous, semifamous, or in the periphery of famous people. No, I would never actually have principles and speak up at the time. I would much rather wait until there's something in it for me.

All these people who have waited years to speak up about Donald Trump being a burning garbage scow of a human being, we appreciate you coming forward to tell your stories. But don't expect us to treat you as some sort of hero speaking truth to power. We're not interested in putting you on the talk show circuit and following you on Twitter. And we certainly aren't going to give you six- or seven-figure book deals and give you television shows for speaking up and ...

Wait, we are doing that?

We just gave Omarosa Manigault-Newman a huge book deal and Tom Arnold a show on Vice about him hunting for the fabled lost tape of the n word?

Well, shit, of course we did. Of course we are tossing money at these people who have garbage morals for doing the right thing once there's something in it for them. There should be absolutely no reward for this for these people. None. We've had a long line of people as varied as the contractors Trump has screwed over, his former employees, the people who have worked with him, his ex-wives, and hundreds of others who have leaked documents who deserve far more of our attention than Tom Arnold, who once watched a video of Trump saying a word, and Omarosa, a woman who built a life around screwing over people the minute it suits her.

These are not good people, and they don't deserve our time. Tom Arnold (pictured above) has been pitching that video and saying he's got access to it but hasn't come up with it for almost two years. Well, screw you, buddy, produce the video or piss off. This isn't Geraldo milking the opening of Al Capone's "vault," this is proof of Trump being scum -- as if we needed any more proof. And Omarosa, unless you have proof of criminal behavior, screw off. Seriously, you're scum, and both of you are grifters.

Now I want to talk about the most recent guy to show up who said he heard Trump saying the n word, Penn Jillette. In a recent interview, Jillette talked about how he was in the room when Trump said some nasty stuff. He said he felt that no one would believe him because he is a magician and people tend to see magicians as tricksters and liars. OK, kinda wrong, but whatever. Now, I get that he's this big super libertarian -- saying people should do whatever, fine, whatever -- and that he's been saying that Trump is awful and shouldn't be president for a few years on his podcast, back when he was around Trump being a trash orc way back in 2010. In this Vulture interview, Jillette recounted how Trump said "racially insensitive things that made me uncomfortable," but Jillette never said anything until Trump started running for president. He said he was fine with Trump being awful at the time, because Trump was "a good reality show."

Well, Penn, to borrow your old hook, dismissing someone being incredibly shitty because they made good entertainment is bullshit.You say he wasn't running around groping women on set and using a racial slur every 30 seconds when you were around him, but letting garbage people get away with being garbage is why we have Trump in the White House. He was hurting people, and you knew it but said nothing. You should have walked away instead of saying it was good television.

Honestly, after the Central Park Five problem, every last person in Hollywood should have walked away from Trump. Of course, the tabloids would keep him going, but tabloids are the backed-up sewers of humanity. No one should have given Trump the time of day. "Oh, but he's so controversial!" So freaking what? If someone is being sexist or racist, sexually assaulting someone, being verbally or physically abusive, homophobic, or whatever, you fucking say and do something right there and then!

The first person Harvey Weinstein tried to grope or pressure into sex should have been his last. His personal assistant should never have enabled it and his partners should have walked away. Jeffrey Tambor should never have gotten himself some trophies and a chance at an apology tour (only to get dragged again during the tour). Bill O'Reilly should have been shitcanned years ago. The same goes for those connected with the abuse of kids at Penn State by the assistant football coach or the most recent scandal involving Congressman Jim Jordan and the Ohio State wrestling team. Oh, and the Catholic Church. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, what the fuck were they thinking? None of that is OK; none of that was ever OK. And everyone's silence made them complicit.

I was going off about Penn Jillette (pictured above) last week and someone said "that's just the way it is" and "that's just the business." No, screw you, buddy, and screw all of you who think that way. That's the way it is because you let it be that way. When you let bigots and abusers get away with things because "that's just the way things are done," you're making it that way. I can appreciate the small-time nobody who's struggling their way into Hollywood being frightened. And I can appreciate how intimidating it can be going up against powerful institutions as varied as celebrities, businesses, the government, and the freaking Catholic Church when you're just some average nobody. These people, I understand because I have felt that fear myself when I have seen abuses and wrongs and was told "that's just the way it is." However, those who have power and cover these things up, and -- God, this argument is gross -- the people whose money is on the line should be the ones doing it.

There are a million more Jeffrey Tambors, Harvey Weinsteins, sports coaches, Johnny Depps, and Donald Trumps. You do not need them. You pay far more of a price covering this stuff up for years and having it explode in your face. I get that some folks don't have a conscience as long as they are getting that fat stack of cash, a chance to walk the red carpet, awards, or political influence. But some do, and those folks need to speak up when it happens. You destroy institutions, not to mention people's lives, when you stay silent until you can't anymore. You are the reason we need #MeToo and all these other movements. Because you had the power and did nothing, so the powerless have to band together to do something.

But those of you who stay silent while it benefits you, you need to listen up: You're scum. Yeah, you're freaking scum, and honestly, I think in some ways, you're worse. An abuser or bigot is just doing their thing because there's something wrong with them in the head. You're enabling something you (I hope to God) know is wrong because you're getting something out of it. You're a mercenary, and mercenaries leave a long trail of destruction and despair behind them for a paycheck. You should never get your face on television to "tell your side" or sell a book about "insider secrets" or pretend that you have always been a good person, because we know you're not.

You should do things because they're right, and the right thing to do at the time. These are not opportunities for fame and fortune. Saying that "mistakes were made and we ask your forgiveness" doesn't count for much when it's after you've been caught covering things up or doing nothing. And when you wait until you can't cover it up anymore or you see profit in it is when you've got the blood of every person who was hurt on your hands. Enjoy your blood money.

AMANDA KERRI is a writer and comedian based in Oklahoma City. Follow her on Twitter @Amanda_Kerri.