John Cusack is now on my Celebrity Black List: The list of liberal celebrities to which I will not devote another second of my time or on whose work I will not spend a dime of my discretionary income.
I am fine with celebrities having views that differ from mine. I am fine with them voicing their views. When they do they risk that they may turn some people off and it may dull their celebrity luster. Just like they enjoy the protection afforded to them by the Constitution to speak freely, we all enjoy my constitutional right not to associate with them on any level.
I have many strong political opinions. I am a fiscal conservative, but tend to the moderate side on a number of social issues. Rarely, if ever, would I consider myself a liberal. That said, I have many liberal friends and am not generally a close minded person. It is just that when a celebrity chooses to publicly flaunt their liberal, political slant, I can no longer see them in a movie or TV show or hear them sing without associating them with their politics. They can no longer be a “character” they are portraying to me. They become “that liberal actor.” I no longer think about the lyrics of the song that they are singing. I think of the liberal comments that they have made.
It is the same with talk show celebrities. Since Oprah announced her backing of Obama, I no longer have any interest in watching her show. The last time I watched the Today show was back when Gore ran against Bush. It was just too maddening to watch Matt Lauer and Katie Couric conduct interviews of conservative politicians. They couldn’t be objective to save their lives. Don’t even get me started on Rosie O’Donnell. In short, I can’t be bothered with them anymore. They expose their liberal selves and they become entertainers that are no longer entertaining to me. I am finished with them. Cold turkey. No more. Done.
In contrast, I will read liberal political articles or blogs and will listen to liberal pundits on television. There is a difference. When I see or hear those people, I am seeking their opinions. I do not want to know the politics of the people I seek out for entertainment.
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The Celebrity Black List (in no particular order):
- John Cusack
- Oprah
- Rosie O’Donnell
- Matt Lauer
- Katie Couric
- Dixie Chicks – all of them
- Susan Sarandon
- Tim Robbins
- Brad Pitt
- George Clooney
- Ben Afflick – (I like his wife, Jennifer Garner, but now I can not see her without wondering if she agrees with his politics. Oh well.)
- Jennifer Garner – tentative listing
- Janeane Garofalo
- Bill Maher
- Jamie Lee Curtis
- Merredith Vierda
- Jane Fonda
- Queen Latifah
- Phil Donahue
- Danny Glover
- Dustin Hoffman
- Sean Penn
- Ed Harris
- Sheryl Crow
- Ed Asner
- Jessica Lange
- Barbara Streisand
- Kevin Spacey
- Woody Harrelson
- Marisa Tomei
- Martin Sheen
- Richard Dreyfuss
- Michael Moore
- Madonna
- Cybil Shepard
- Alex Baldwin
- Matt Dammon
- Paris Hitlon
- P. Diddy
Filed under: Democrats, Liberals, Media, Politics, Ranting |
Right of Center 
Whew. That is one heck of a list. I hadn’t heard what John Cusack did, but I guess you have to throw his sister in there too.
I do get a little tired of these rich celebrities telling us what we should speand our tax dollars on and the causes that if we do not support we are inhuman. Let ehm come live in my house and shop around town for the best prices for milk and fruit so I can afford to give my kids a healthy diet. They are so out of touch with the real world, it is killing me. Do you think that any of them actually know what a gallon of milk actually costs?
Whew! Sorry. BTW, Phil Donahue cannot still be considered a celebrity!
mtae – Too funny. I debated whether to add Phil Donahue to the list for just that reason. I ultimately added him because he was one of the early liberals whose celebrity luster was diminished by his vocal political rants. I remember as a kid my Mom would watch his show daily. Then all of a sudden, she didn’t watch so much. I am guessing for the reasons in my post. When she returns from her vacation, I will ask her. Meanwhile, he is on the list in deference to my Mom.
You are correct. Joan Cusack will be added to the list. I will probably have to create a new page to the blog to house the list so I can add to it as I go.
Oh dear. I like most of those actors. This does not bode well for our movie-going any time soon. How are we still friends?
Wow. I…don’t get this at all! I mean, I’m sure not going to boycott Chuck Norris or Jon Voight over who they support. And the Duke? Yeah, he’s dead, but I would still have loved and supported his movies.
It’s funny because I had a lively discussion with a baseball fan over Curt Schilling and his support of the GOP which just had him in a tizzy like you. Eh. Don’t care. He could have come and pitched for the padres and I would still root for him.
I do understand someone like Bill Maher since he would not be acting, just doing stand up. But…I still like Dennis Miller! Ah well, I guess knowing an entertainer or athlete’s political affiliation doesn’t get under my skin as much.
But hey – I do share your boycotting of Sheryl Crow. One of my irrational, cannot explain way, things. Nails on a chalkboard for me.
I get that you don’t get it. At times I don’t get it and wish it wouldn’t bother me. I read in one of the August Mom blogs about George Clooney’s last movie. I ordered it on Netflix, then when it came, I just didn’t want to watch him. After a while, I just sent it back.
It is not a “tizzy” thing. It is a “matter of fact” thing. It is also not just “knowing an entertainer’s political affiliation” – for me it does not extend to atheletes. It is the ranting and carrying on that they do on camera when given a chance. I prefer not to know that much about the entertainers. I think it interfers with the make believe aspect of their job (which may be why athletes are not included for me – can’t explain the singers). There are some entertainers on the right that go to far and it bothers me too. TMI I suppose I crave the days when famous entertainers were more private.
IMHO is wise for entertainers to write a check and shut up about politics. But if they do speak up, they should not be surprised if it hurts their overall appeal and hence their bottom line. They need to face facts, they are not trained political pundits. Most of the time they just look like idiots carrying on with little to no substance in their rant – e.g., Rosie and the Dixie Chicks.
Hmm..see..I think they should not be silenced. And..back in the day..there was Blacklisting in Hollywood and everyone knew that John Wayne was conservative. So I am not sure that entertainers were ever as silent as you want them to be.
Why should they be held to a standard differently than me for instance? Don’t they have the right to speak their mind on politics if it is something that interests them? You want them to be private, yet there are media hounds following their every move and minutia in their lives.
You said there are right leaning entertainers who go too far that bother you – but I didn’t see them on your Blacklist 😉
This is a list of celebrities that “I ” do not find entertaining as a result of their political rants. I have not suggested that anyone else stop going to their movies or buying their albums.
I clearly stated “I am fine with celebrities having views that differ from mine. I am fine with them voicing their views. When they do they risk that they may turn some people off and it may dull their celebrity luster.”
I don’t want celebrities to be silent. I want them to understand that when they do speak up they risk offending people. I saw a number of interviews with the Dixie Chicks where they whined that people stopped buying their CDs and going to their concerts after their anti-war comments on foreign ground. They did not understand the political slant of their target market. From a marketing perspective, they erred big time.
My point is that when celebrities put their politics front and center, they risk damaging their celebrity image. My suggestion is more for marketing purposes than for political reasons. From a marketing perspective, celebrities hurt their own careers when they publically discuss politics – unless they are planning to become politicians!
I understand your larger point. And yes, the Dixie Chicks are a prime example of it. OTOH, judging from their most recent album – they really didn’t care. Probably even gained other segments of the music listening market that normally would not have been drawn to their music (as I broadly over generalize that country western fans = conservatives!) 😉
I think the length of your list and the depth of your feelings about it took me by surprise and it was an interesting point to ponder! But I have celebrity issues too – like I said, I boycott Sheryl Crow (oh and Geena Davis) for absolutely no reason at all.
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