It would be easy to miss celebrities’ contributions—and detractions—from the public sphere in the midst of so much political turmoil. But let’s not.
The force, like everything else, is against Ted Cruz
Mark Hamill’s tweeted dismissal of Federal Communications Chair Ajit Pai and subsequent takedown of Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) were nearly as epic as the Star Wars saga that made him famous. Pai released a tone-deaf video featuring him in a number of situations he, or his communications team, deemed relatable and reassuring to a public rightfully concerned about the FCC’s reversal of net neutrality.
In one of a series of scenarios, Pai’s depicted wielding a light saber. Hamill offered his thoughts on how Luke Skywalker would feel about net neutrality—and tossed in a legal dig that would warm any progressive lawyer’s heart.
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) must never have seen Star Wars all the way through, because he attempted to take Hamill down.
We can pray Hamill’s retort may have taught even Ted Cruz to feel a pang of shame. (Let’s not go so far as to touch on humility.)
She should have known it was trouble
In less admirable celebrity news, Taylor Swift spent the year refusing to condemn the alt-right. She’s been their “Aryan goddess” since 2013 “through no fault of her own,” as the Washington Post noted. Nearly five years later, her state of grace is in jeopardy: Swift’s done nothing to reject this bigoted fan base though she knew all too well of how they’re using her image and songs.
These days, Swift’s ongoing refusal to do more than object to the juxtaposition of her image with Adolf Hitler quotes is attracting growing criticism.
Milo Yiannopoulos’s claim that Swift’s “red-pilled” and hiding beliefs more aligned with those of her alt-right following than the public, rejecting white supremacism and homophobia at a minimum seems, well, advisable. Instead, in November, Swift threatened to sue a blogger for her refusal to act with the rise of the alt-right, resulting in bad blood with the American Civil Liberties Union.
Swift’s going to find this critique hard to shake off. In fact, her refusal to object as the alt-right adopted her as an icon—and her songs as anthems—came back to haunt her barely more than a month after the defamation debacle. Let’s go back to December: Within days of the release of her new app, The Swift Life, its social network was overrun by white supremacists, homophobes, and Trump’s most loyal fans.
The love story’s over; Swift won’t be out of the woods until she takes a stand. Maybe she should break it off with the alt-right and let them know they’re never, ever getting back together?
Dead woman walking?
Few will forget Susan Sarandon’s spectacularly out-of-touch contributions to the public debate over the course of the 2016 election. The right’s going to be grateful ‘til the end of time, or at least through President Mike Pence’s second term, and most of the left’s going to be mad twice as long.
To summarize, Sarandon’s public appearances were rocky and her involvement quickly became a horror story. Fellow actresses Jamie Lee Curtis and Debra Messing came for her after the MSNBC interview in which Sarandon suggested she preferred Trump to Clinton because at least he’d “bring the revolution.”
Not even Senator Bernie Sanders, the intended beneficiary of her benevolence, could agree with Sarandon’s zero-sum take.
Never mind her post-election justifications.
"Do you feel that you properly appreciated what a Donald Trump presidency would be?" Hayes asked.
"I think that ... analyzing and spending time and energy talking about blaming people who made mistakes or what should have happened is really wasting your time and energy," Sarandon said. "Because what we have now is a populace that is awake."
After Democrat and now Senator-elect Doug Jones’s black woman-driven victory in Alabama’s special Senate election, Sarandon took it upon herself to thank black voters. A wide swathe of left-learning Twitter users united to take her down.
Black Twitter, in particular, was having none of it. The White Palace actress was treated to achingly on-point critiques in pretty much every form of media.
Sarandon—whose credits also include A Dry White Season, as it turns out—found herself particularly blessed in the gifs and clips department.
It seems a timely moment to recall Sarandon’s September clash with black activist Queen Bravenak. After Bravenak tweeted a Sarandon meme expressing frustration using an impolite verb, the actress replied sarcastically. Her reply sparked a barrage of attacks on Bravenak that resulted in her suspension—as well as her doxxing.
Turns out, lots of liberals can unite on Twitter to express their desire to have Sarandon anywhere but here.