The original photo that started the meme was taken on October 18, 2011 by Diana Walker at the start of a week long trip through the middle east. In the photo Hillary Clinton checks her PDA, in her sunglasses, upon departure in a military plane from Malta, bound for Tripoli.
There are a lot of women who would kill to co-star in a Jason Segel movie. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is not one of them. Last week on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, Segel said he got “a rejection letter” from the former First Lady, and it turns out he wasn’t kidding. Politico obtained a copy of Clinton’s witty but firm no to the star of The Five Year Engagement, which seems to indicate that she may be a fan of Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Clinton wrote:
“I was delighted to read about your interest in sharing the big screen with me. As you can imagine, I am a little occupied at the moment, but perhaps someday I can help you forget Sarah Marshall … again. My only condition is that there be Muppets involved, and that is non-negotiable. In the meantime, you have my best wishes for continued success with your career.”
It’s the latest sign of increasing savvy from a political figure not known for her pop culture acumen. Clinton famously drew ire for donning a Yankees cap during her Senate fight New York mayor Rudy Giuliani (although the accusations appeared to have little basis in fact — thank you, Media Matters — they still stung). And photos of her swigging a beer in Cartagena that hit newspapers at the height of last month’s Secret Service sex scandal didn’t help matters. Thank goodness for Texts From Hillary. The secretary of state took the one-joke Tumblr — a series of photos depicting Clinton texting, with fake replies from the likes of Ryan Gosling, Mitt Romney and Anthony Weiner — and ran with it. The site’s founders received a submission directly from Clinton’s office, and she even autographed a copy of her note, invited them to meet with her at the State Department and thanked them “for the many LOLZ.” Yes, the Secretary of State speaks Internet. Watch out, rest of the world.
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