Oscar-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin did more than defend free speech in 1995’s “The American President.” Sorkin insisted it’s baked into the Red, White and Blue cake.
Here’s part of the film’s climax, a debate highlight from President Andrew Shepherd (Michael Douglas):
America isn’t easy. America is advanced citizenship. You’ve gotta want it bad, ’cause it’s gonna put up a fight. It’s gonna say, “You want free speech? Let’s see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who’s standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours.”
President Shepherd’s dunk on his political rival is the film’s slow-clap moment. Yet Sorkin, one of Hollywood’s most prominent progressives, likely wouldn’t write that dialogue today. Nor would most filmmakers.
And, if one did, someone would draw a fat red line through that page in the script.
Hollywood has turned its back on free speech. It’s triggering, White Supremacy-adjacent and brimming with “Hate.” Even worse? Elon Musk is a fan, and Hollywood progressives loathe him almost as much as a certain ex-president.
Sound harsh? The evidence is damning.
Consider how stars cheered when social media giants banned Donald Trump after the Jan. 6 melee in the Capitol. Emmy-winner Julia Louis-Dreyfus, speaking for many in the creative community, targeted former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey after the move.
“What the f*** took you so long, Jack?”
Stars collectively stood down as Cancel Culture ran roughshod through their community. Those caught in its web, like Scarlett Johansson and Halle Berry, made “hostage”-style apologies rather than defend accepting roles they were told not to take.
They also agreed to censor their work to appease far-Left radicals. Recall how Tina Fey requested four episodes of “30 Rock” featuring “race-changing makeup” be removed following the rise of the BLM movement.
The same celebrities stayed mum as The Twitter Files revealed rampant censorship of right-leaning voices on everything from the pandemic to government overreach. They similarly stayed mum following Mark Zuckerberg’s recent revelations about the Biden department forcing the platform to censor speech.
Then again, Hollywood elites now actively censor their own, assuming they vote Republican. The new, unofficial Blacklist may not lock up dissidents, but its impact on speech is profound.
For every outspoken conservative like Jon Voight there are countless more afraid to share their views for fear of retribution.
- Actors
- Screenwriters
- Makeup artists
- Directors
The now-defunct Friends of Abe group let right-leaning creatives gather to bond, network and share industry horror stories. Some teared up recalling the discrimination they faced. And, of course, they met in secret to avoid more discrimination.
Veteran actors James Woods and Kevin Sorbo no longer work in Hollywood, Inc. Why? They think the “wrong” way.
Sorbo told the “Triggernometry” podcast how fellow conservatives greet him on the indie movie sets where he now toils outside the system.
“They pull me to the side … like we’re doing a drug deal, and they say, ‘Hey, man. Thanks for being a voice for us.’ And I tell them, ‘Why not be a voice for yourself,’ but they’re afraid to get blacklisted like I did.”
Podcaster Joe Rogan shared an insider’s view of Blacklist 2.0 during a February chat with comedian Tom Green.
“There’s a certain ideology that’s attached to that city, and it’s not logical. It’s a kooky, wacky, completely insulated left-wing view of the world, and they enforce it with an iron fist…And if you’re not on that team you don’t get booked for things. You don’t get picked for things. If you’re someone who has conservative leanings there’s projects you’re never gonna get. You’re never gonna be involved … they’ll malign you without knowing you at all, [and are] openly prejudiced about you. So no one does it.”
Stars have spent decades cosplaying the original Blacklist. Think films like “Trumbo,” “Guilty by Suspicion,” “The Front,” “Good Night, and Good Luck” and “The Majestic.”
Now, when they learn conservatives fear losing work for exercising their free speech it merits a shrug. At best. Or, as Alec Baldwin described it in 2022, “unfortunate.”
The exceptions almost always prove the rule. When Tom Hanks decried “sensitivity readers” for censoring classic tomes he stood virtually alone.
A handful of stars cling to their free speech beliefs, and you could tally them up in a single, crisp paragraph. John Cleese. Rob Schneider. Joe Rogan. Dave Chappelle. Ricky Gervais.
“Just because you’re offended it doesn’t mean you’re right,” @RickyGervais says of his politically incorrect jokes. “Offense is about feelings and feelings are personal.” https://t.co/qSX1f0CoMN pic.twitter.com/DEgkfC5p6R
— The View (@TheView) March 17, 2018
The problem isn’t getting better. Even British celebrities like Gervais and Cleese appear to be mum on recent, draconian anti-speech actions flowing from UK government officials.
It wasn’t always this way.
Free speech once meant everything to Hollywood. It’s why Sorkin’s “President” speech gave his political rom-com its rhetorical kill shot.
Celebrities decried attempts to silence their President George W. Bush barbs during the Iraq War. Tim Robbins slammed the Baseball Hall of Fame for scrapping a “Bull Durham”-themed event due to his anti-war sentiments.
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Neil Young captured that era’s sentiment with his Freedom of Speech tour in 2006, channeling his inner hippie in the process. Years later, he’d lead the fight to kick Rogan off Spotify for sharing “misinformation” without a hint of self-reflection.
To be fair, Rogan did say Hunter Biden’s laptop wasn’t real. Oh, wait. Not THAT misinformation. Other stuff, like healthy young people may not need the COVID-19 vaccine. Other aging rockers, like Joni Mitchell, David Crosby and Graham Nash, locked arms with Young … before they retreated back to Spotify.
Did any major musician take Rogan’s side?
It’s not as if celebrities keep their political views to themselves. They weigh in on every issue imaginable these days, even insults to cat ladies.
Remember White Dudes for Harris?
That is their right, and no one should swipe it from them. So why won’t they rise up to defend free speech, the very core of free expression (and their livelihoods)?
It’s ironic that Sorkin recently slammed today’s Republican party for lacking reasonable moderates. He should hold a mirror up to his party and see how far it’s fallen on a core American value.
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