The Hollywood investigation was frank and unusual. The Apprentice stars were left angry and stunned that so few of their peers were willing to engage with them.
“People have been afraid of touching this film, of being seen as complicit with the film, of supporting the film, of publicly supporting this film, and of course of showing the film on streaming platforms. ” said Jeremy Strong, who plays Roy Cohn. The independently funded origin story of Donald Trump was recently told to me. “But the role of storytelling is to hold up a mirror. It’s not about making people comfortable. It’s not just about entertaining. It’s about holding up a foot to the fire.
“I can’t think of a more relevant subject to what we’re all going through,” he added. “It was really hard not to be accepted by the industry.”
Co-star Sebastian Stan was pretty much on the same page.
“When it comes to artistry and creativity, we have to be able to protect free speech. It can’t be selective free speech,” Stan, who plays Trump, said on the variety show “Actors on”. He spoke to THR shortly after criticizing his co-workers for excluding him from “The Actors.” “There should be freedom of speech in all aspects. We cannot normalize what can and cannot be said.”
Something strange is happening on The Apprentice. Despite having an 83 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the industry rejected it. Most distribution executives won’t touch it. Actors won’t talk about it. The film shows how Cohn’s bare-knuckle approach shaped the young Trump. And entertainers are avoiding the topic anyway, whether they’re afraid of examining President Trump’s relevance or worried about the repercussions of appearing critical of his power. I am doing it. What if you made a movie about Roy Cohn and everyone was afraid of being blacklisted?
(Journalists don’t seem to think the same way; the Golden Globes nominated both Stan and Strong.)
This kind of reception is a metaphor for modern Hollywood. Since President Trump won, the industry has thrown everything in its arsenal to stop him from taking back the White House, publishing Beyoncé’s performance, George Clooney’s op-ed, and Taylor Swift’s endorsement all. remained largely silent about Harold Lloyd.
Yes, Mark Hamill said, “We’re getting the leader we deserve,” and in fact, Billie Eilish pointed out that Trump is waging a “war on women.” However, most of the modern stars have not spoken since November 5th. As was the case after the 2016 election, there was no commentary as Robert De Niro was fond of saying last time (“a real racist”). At the time, Steve Levitan mocked “Trump’s lies” and Barry Jenkins lambasted Trump and his immigration policies from the National Review Board stage.
Awards season is an access lane to politics for celebrities. But there’s no frenzy waiting around the bends at the starting gate of an eight-week sprint.
Before the 2017 inauguration, Meryl Streep passionately criticized Trump’s toxicity, saying it was “heartbreaking” to see him imitate a disabled reporter. Something strange happened, but it seems that such a speech is not scheduled for the next show.
The truest comment about Trump these days comes from this guy no one is listening to. Stan’s “You can’t normalize what you can and can’t talk about.”
Is this a temporary lull, a daze of deep loss that celebrities have yet to awaken to? Or will it return to a permanent state? For decades, entertainers stayed out of politics and were unwitting co-signers of Michael Jordan’s famous quote, “Republicans buy sneakers, too.”
Trump destroyed it. Suddenly, criticizing the president became acceptable and fashionable. However, what seemed like a major change may actually have been fleeting.
One might think that perhaps silence is not cowardice but readjustment. The 2024 campaign endorsed Oprah, Clooney, Beyoncé, Taylor, and all the other celebrities who are anonymous repositories of our collective trust. But the majority of voters didn’t believe it. And the reasoning persists. “If Taylor and Oprah couldn’t sway people, how could I?” “If yelling in 2018 didn’t stop him, maybe we could try something else? ?”
This rationale may become more acceptable if new approaches are pursued. Enough to put away a knife. But nothing else came out of the drawer.
The balance between Silicon Valley and Hollywood has long tipped in terms of wealth, social influence, and even fame. And now the evidence is that entertainers are aware of their diminished power, or are contributing to it through their silence.
Or maybe it’s just cynical self-interest. If non-MAGA figures like Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos are minding their own business in Trump: The Return, perhaps celebrities should be too. After all, his public support is that wide.
But is it? The 77.3 million people who voted for him can’t drown out the 76.5 million people who didn’t vote. If you were Stan and Strong, you’d be confused and even furious. Their natural attitude would be, “You provoked us.” “You wanted us to fight. And when you realized we were losing, you acted like we didn’t exist.”
If you’re a Democratic fan of a liberal celebrity, you’re right to feel angry. When a conservative fan base supports a star, the star supports them. Joe Rogan. matt walsh. Ben Shapiro. Democratic fans may look to their heroes and ask, “Where is our representation?” “Where are the mobilizations going?”
“I’m motivated,” they’ll say. “And you normalized things that we can’t talk about.”
This article was published in the January 3 issue of The Hollywood Reporter. Click here to subscribe.
