In a free society, you have the right to speak your mind. It goes without saying that you should also have the right not to say anything.
For a number of stars — particularly on the A-list — silence is becoming tougher. Conspicuous by it, or by efforts not to comment on the politics of the day, celebrities trying to be apolitical are finding that the scrutiny is getting harsher, as journalists want to ask in professional settings while fans are also asking on social media.
Pop superstar Taylor Swift and New England Patriots standout Tom Brady, in particular, are coming under criticism for not talking politics in this new world order. Other stars including Chris Pratt, Zayn Malik, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Tom Cruise and Mark Wahlberg have reportedly been careful about not making political endorsements during the election, avoiding taking questions about U.S. President Donald Trump and not speaking at all about the recent highly controversial Muslim ban.
With much of Hollywood considered to be left-leaning, it is en vogue there to speak out against Trump. Awards season being in full swing, the winners have been using their soapboxes, as Meryl Streep did with her Golden Globes speech. The Screen Actors Guild Awards on Jan. 29 featured at least 15 moments of celebrities speaking out about the issues.
“Traditionally, in post-World War Two North America, it’s been easy for an entertainer to try and avoid politics, in many respects, that’s been a good path to ensuring that you have a broad fan base,” says Eric Kasper, associate professor, political science at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and author of Don’t Stop Thinking About the Music: The Politics of Songs and Musicians in Presidential Campaign.
“Now that people, both on the left and the right, . . . are more attuned to (the political issues) . . . , more consumers are turning to those (political) issues when they decide which movies they are going to watch, and which albums they are going to buy.”
In the past century, he points to the Vietnam War as a similar time, also noting that celebrities were clearly specifically targeted during the McCarthy hearings of the 1950s.
Swift in particular has been in the glare of the spotlight that’s turned upon those who haven’t commented. She was criticized for not attending last month’s Women’s March on Washington D.C. after tweeting about it; since then, she has only tweeted comments promoting her new song with Malik.
Malik, a Muslim, has yet to comment on Trump’s ban imposed last week, preventing citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States for 90 days.
Mackenzie Scott, a 26-year-old American pop musician and self-described Swift super-fan who records under the name Torres, tweeted at her saying “Please use your voice. Please use your platform.”
The attention has now spread to the Swift’s “squad” of friends and hangers-on; her buddy, model Karlie Kloss, reportedly cancelled an interview with an Australian TV morning showed, when it would not agree to avoid the topics of Trump and Swift. Kloss is reportedly dating Josh Kushner, brother of Trump senior adviser, Jared Kushner.
Not many big names have been so quiet. Trump has a couple of famous fans but most celebs are detractors in the same general camp as comedian Sarah Silverman, who raised a few eyebrows this week by tweeting, “Wake up & join the resistance. Once the military is (with) us fascists get overthrown. Mad king & his handlers go bye bye”
“Movie stars have been speaking out since World War One, so this is part of a long tradition in Hollywood,” says Steve Ross, a history professor at the University of Southern California and author of Hollywood Left and Right: How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics. “The question they should be asking right now is, are you helping your cause, or doing it harm? And right now, I would suggest that many of the stars denouncing Trump are hurting their cause. There is a potential for great backfire.”
Ross also adds that Hollywood executives preferred actors not to speak about politics, simply because it was good business. Michael Jordan’s position on staying out of political discussions in the ’80s — variously quoted as “Republicans buy shoes, too” or “Republicans buy sneakers, too” — perfectly summed up the desire to avoid consumer backlash. Yet it should be noted that in recent years, particularly in light of the Black Lives Matter movement, there is a new age of athletic activism under way, and Jordan himself has not only spoken out in favour of that cause but donated several million dollars to organizations.
In contrast, with the Super Bowl upon us, Brady and his New England coach Bill Belichick avoided any questions about Trump this week, even after the president invoked both of them as supporters during the campaign.
Brady famously had a “Make American Great Again” hat in his locker during the season, which ignited interest in his political leanings. He has refused to talk politics and has awkwardly avoided questions at his NFL-mandated media availability.
He later told USA Today: “If people want to take sides, you know, they can obviously do that. It’s everyone’s right. They have a right to do that. And I have a right to stay out of it.”
Brady is right, but with such a polarizing political climate, until the questions are answered, there will be no shortage of people asking. Yet some of the biggest stars in the world, such as Cruise and Wahlberg, have long eschewed politics, although the latter has reportedly golfed with Trump.
Johnson has mused about running for office one day, and after Trump’s recent win he was asked about a 2020 run. “I wouldn’t rule it out,” he said. “It would be a great opportunity to help people, so it’s possible.”
His only message on the election was an Instagram post afterward reading, “The most important thing we can do right now is be 100 per cent committed to becoming a better country,” and exhorting people to be “lead by example.”
In that vein, and perhaps signalling a slight change in tone, Matthew McConaughey made headlines this week for a BBC interview in which he advised Hollywood to “embrace” Trump and “be constructive with him over the next four years.”
The irony of his unpopularity in showbiz is that Trump has long been obsessed with star power and aligning himself with the famous. He is not averse to starting a celebrity feud, like his long-standing one with Rosie O’Donnell, and on Twitter he has been candidly insulting about his reactions to Streep’s Golden Globes speech and Saturday Night Live’s weekly portrayals of him. While many stars are not being silent about Trump, there is no doubt we will know exactly what he thinks when the famous criticize him.
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