Hollywood vs Donald Trump: How celebs launched the fiercest attack on POTUS
Updated : February 05, 2017 11:39 AM IST
“Do you know what ‘nemesis’ means?” asks Brick Top, a rather colourful elderly gentleman in the cult gangster movie Snatch. “A righteous infliction of retribution manifested by an appropriate agent. Personified in this case by an ‘orrible c***... me,” he clarifies.
Matthew McConaughey’s recent comments about ‘embracing’ Donald Trump were extraordinary. He was practically the first major Hollywood celebrity to not join his contemporaries in launching an attack on the new US president.
But ever since the run up to the 2016 Presidential election, the announcement of the results on December 16, and his inauguration in January, Donald Trump’s every move has been scrutinised, studied and vocally protested by the largely liberal Hollywood - his nemesis.
Mere days before the election, Avengers director Joss Whedon brought together another team, but this time, their mission was to get people into polling booths - and to convince the undecided voters to vote for Hillary Clinton, the Democrat candidate.
How important is your VOTE this Election Day? Well, we'll let them tell you. pic.twitter.com/RlzfwUHrW6
— Save The Day Vote (@SaveTheDayVote) September 21, 2016
While the campaign, which counted among its members Robert Downey Jr, Don Cheadle and Mark Ruffalo, may have failed, Whedon continues to bash Trump, on Twitter and on the streets.
Disappointed in LAX protesters not taking up my chant:
— Joss Whedon (@joss) January 30, 2017
NO WALL
NO BAN
EVERYONE HELP FIND JOSS'S CAR
But otherwise, proud & grateful pic.twitter.com/48fgeoSS3U
LAX #NoBanNoWall #StopPresidentBannon #shutupimadeitinthecar pic.twitter.com/EdN2q6dFeG
— Joss Whedon (@joss) January 29, 2017
We have a dictator. Wow. We're THAT country now.
— Joss Whedon (@joss) January 25, 2017
Celebrated actor Robert De Niro also tried his best to sway the undecided voter in a video that was remarkable for its forthright anger. “I’d like to punch him (Trump) in the face,” he said in the clip.
Again, it didn’t work. On the day the election results were announced, several celebrities tweeted in anger. One of the most compassionate messages of dissent was from the Oscar-winning screenwriter of The Social Network, Aaron Sorkin. He wrote a letter to his teenage daughter, warning her of the difficult world in which she will grow up and how she must be strong.
This is not a dream.
— Zach Braff (@zachbraff) November 9, 2016
Dear Muslim, Mexican, immigrant, refugee, handicapped, black, gay, female humans beings, & also dear Earth...you are not forgotten. Promise
— Connie Britton (@conniebritton) November 9, 2016
today I learned that activism & taking care of each other must be an everyday thing, not just an election thing
— Jay Duplass (@jayduplass) November 9, 2016
I promise to do better
This is like a sketch.
— Trevor Noah (@Trevornoah) November 9, 2016
"The next wave of fascism will come not with cattle cars and camps. It will come with a friendly face." - Bertram Gross, "Friendly Fascism"
— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) November 9, 2016
Stop it w: the moving to Canada shit. Double down on the country we love. If Trump becomes president, we have to get MORE involved not less
— Kal Penn (@kalpenn) November 9, 2016
This is an embarrassing night for America. We've let a hatemonger lead our great nation. We've let a bully set our course. I'm devastated.
— Chris Evans (@ChrisEvans) November 9, 2016
This is not a dream.
— Zach Braff (@zachbraff) November 9, 2016
It has only been two weeks since Trump’s inauguration, but almost on a daily basis, an influential Hollywood figure makes a stern statement against him, and his policies, the most controversial of which has been the ban on refugees from several Muslim nations.
Everyone from Jennifer Lawrence, JK Rowling, Eminem, Angelina Jolie, and her ex-husband Brad Pitt have voiced disapproval of Donald Trump’s methods. Shia LaBeouf even got himself arrested for allegedly assaulting a Trump supporter during one of his live performance art pieces in which he spent the first few days of Trump’s presidency swaying, dancing and repeating the phrase “He will not divide us” in front of a live camera.
You can read (and listen to) some of them here:
More recently, the artists have made good use of the awards season to publicly express their opinions. From the Golden Globes, in which Meryl Streep made a now-iconic 6 minute speech to the SAG awards, which almost appeared to have taken the form of a Donald Trump roast, even Winona Ryder couldn’t distract from the message.
Never one to miss an opportunity to get the last word in, Trump responded, as usual on Twitter.
Meryl Streep, one of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood, doesn't know me but attacked last night at the Golden Globes. She is a.....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2017
But the popular sentiment only became more vocal, the voices became angrier. David Harbour’s speech at the SAG awards became the most talked-about topic after the show. Accepting the award for Stranger Things, Harbour, who admitted to being unwell before the show, made a furious speech, promising that ‘we will hunt monsters.’
What a passionate speech by @DavidKHarbour on behalf of the @Stranger_Things ensemble! #StrangerThings #sagawards pic.twitter.com/EhTMXNsOTx
— SAG Awards® (@SAGawards) January 30, 2017
Every day, protests are organised on the streets, messages of dissent are shared online, the stories of those who have been turned away, or in any way mistreated by the new president have been used to rally troops against him.
No one is going to ‘embrace’ Donald Trump. Everything is not ‘alright, alright, alright’ and Matthew McConaughey has painted a very large bullseye on his back.