CLASSIC: 'Veep' executive producer admits rumor about Sen. Amy Klobuchar's bad behavior was an inspiration for the show

Greg P. | 11:00 AM on February 13, 2019

So, there’s a rumor flying around that 2020 presidential candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) once forced a staffer to shave her legs . . .

For women voters this might be as bad as Dukakis in a tank: Klobuchar forces staff to shave her legs (according to rumor) https://t.co/naKVtBGzNZ

— Kyle Smith (@rkylesmith) February 13, 2019

. . . a rumor that actually made it onto one of the episodes of HBO’s “Veep”:

The rumors are true… about Selina Meyer #veep @VeepHBO pic.twitter.com/U6swM8xKc1

— David Mandel (@DavidHMandel) February 11, 2019

Executive Producer David Mandel later admitted in an interview with Slate that Klobuchar was indeed the basis for the bit:

In an interview, Mandel told me the gag was based on something the writers had heard about Klobuchar. (Disclosure: My brother has worked on the show for the past two seasons.)

“It is a well-known rumor that we were told a million times by millions of people,” Mandel said of the leg-shaving story.

When asked for comment, a representative for Klobuchar said the rumor was completely false and added, “This is ridiculous.”

And they wanted to actually have a staffer shave Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ legs in the show, but they didn’t do it because it seemed “so absurd”:

We tried to make it a scene and it was impossible. #veep @veephbo "The Veep team had a hard time working it into the script because it seemed so absurd." https://t.co/SGLUE1ft28 via @slate

— David Mandel (@DavidHMandel) February 12, 2019

Exit question: How many other of the fictional president’s gaffes are inspired by Sen. Klobuchar? A lot of the reporting on Klobuchar, in retrospect, does sound like it happened to Gary on the show: