Hollywood is getting the knack for this blacklist thing.
The industry has operated an unofficial ban on conservative artists for years. Denizens don’t speak openly about it, and they occasionally let some right-leaning actors work without punishment.
Think Jon Voight, Kelsey Grammer and Tim Allen.
For many others, especially James Woods, Kevin Sorbo and Scott Baio, being on the Right means good luck finding work in La La Land. Conservatives once met in secret, under the Friends of Abe banner, to share how they were persecuted for voting the “wrong” way.
Zachary Levi of SHAZAM fame gets detailed about why conservatives in Hollywood are uniquely oppressed by the left. Liberals have caused conservatives to “go in the closet” so that 50% of us can’t be artists and speak our values in liberal industries; comics, animation and video… pic.twitter.com/J4O3n15Pqe
— Doug TenNapel (@DougTenNapel) October 21, 2024
Hollywood’s newest blacklist doesn’t operate under the cover of darkness. Everyone is talking about it, and it just keeps growing.
The list of industry professionals boycotting Israeli-linked film organizations stood at 1,900 yesterday. It just doubled in 24 hours.
The far-Left Variety’s headline pretty much says it all:
Joaquin Phoenix, Nicola Coughlan and More Join 3,900 Industry Names Pledging Not to Work With Israeli Film Institutions ‘Complicit in War Crimes’
Some of these stars happily accepted work with Disney, a studio that plays footsie with China and thanked the freedom-averse nation for collaborating on a project near concentration camps.
The very public list members agree, “they will refuse to work with Israeli institutions and companies (emphasis added) that are “implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people,” according to Variety.
Here’s the official pledge:
“Inspired by Filmmakers United Against Apartheid who refused to screen their films in apartheid South Africa, we pledge not to screen films, appear at or otherwise work with Israeli film institutions — including festivals, cinemas, broadcasters and production companies — that are implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people.”
The Israeli Film and TV Producers Association called the boycott “profoundly misguided,” according to Fox News.
That’s being generous.
RELATED: ARE CRITICS AVOIDING ‘SCREAMS BEFORE SILENCE?’
We didn’t see any such list demanding the release of the hostages in the last year. Hollywood did initially rally, to a degree, against Hamas in the wake of the Oct. 7 atrocities.
It didn’t last long, and major Jewish stars like Steven Spielberg and Adam Sandler have been mostly quiet on the matter.
Nor did the stars assemble at any point to decry the raging antisemitism across college campuses and major U.S. cities.
Here’s a partial list of the major names who have signed on to the new Blacklist. It’s a veritable who’s who of Hollywood.
- Emma Stone
- Joaquin Phoenix
- Javier Bardem
- Adam McKay
- Mike Leigh
- Ava DuVernay
- Olivia Colman
- Rice Ahmed
- Available Ayo
- Lily Gladstone
- Mark Ruffalo
- Hannah Intherd
- Cynthia Nixon
- Rooney Mara
- Bowen Yang
- Elliot Page
- Tilda Swinton
- Melissa Barrera
That last name matters on a related front. The former “Scream” actress got briefly canceled by Hollywood for her extreme anti-Israel views. Her cancellation didn’t last long. Now, she’s a proud member of a starry list of A-listers.
Attacking Israel has become the trendy position for actors on the rise. Some may see it as a way to boost their industry cred. Actor Nick Searcy has said that this brand of activism is a form of career advancement, a sign to fellow progressives that they’re part of the team and should be considered for future projects.
Meanwhile, this starry list has stood by, awards show after awards show, not sharing a syllable about the innocent hostages being starved, if not worse, by the Palestinian government.
A brave few stars have bucked this nauseating trend: Debra Messing, David Schwimmer, Patricia Heaton, John Ondrasik and Michael Rapaport. And some have paid a professional price for it.
Rapaport once shamed his peers with this sobering Oscar sketch tied to the hostage crisis. It hit the bullseye but has yet to change any hearts and/or minds in his industry.
UPDATE: Jerry Seinfeld excoriated the “Free Palestine” movement in comments made Sept. 9 at Duke University.
“Free Palestine is, to me, just — you’re free to say you don’t like Jews … Just say you don’t like Jews. By saying ‘Free Palestine,’ you’re not admitting what you really think. So it’s actually — compared to the Ku Klux Klan, I’m actually thinking the Klan is actually a little better here because they can come right out and say, ‘We don’t like Blacks, we don’t like Jews.’ OK that’s honest.”
Editor’s Note: It’s a brutal time to be an independent journalist, but it’s never been more necessary given the sorry state of the corporate press. If you’re enjoying Hollywood in Toto, I hope you’ll consider leaving a coin (or two) in our Tip Jar.