Jodie Foster, Michael J. Fox, and Keegan-Michael Key were among a group of Hollywood celebrities who attended an anti-Trump protest Friday, just two days before the 89th Academy Awards.
The protest was hosted by Hollywood’s United Talent Agency, which held the rally in place of its usually pre-Oscars party.
Hollywood stars and the supporting film industry will celebrate the Oscars Sunday night at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. Recent Awards shows have been riddled with anti-Trump rhetoric since former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s loss.
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Sixty-six percent of Trump voters said that they have stopped watching awards show because winners discuss political views during speeches. That number compares to the 19% of Clinton voters who would do the same, according to a THR/National Research Group poll of 800 people (half Trump, half Clinton voters).
A-list celebrity Meryl Streep will present an award Sunday night, which gives the longtime member of the Hollywood elite another prime time opportunity to criticize the president and his supporters. Streep, who accepted the Cecile B. DeMille Award, which is presented by Hollywood’s foreign press to an individual for “outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment,” used her speech at the Golden Globes in January to criticize the -president-elect and his supporters.
“So Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners, and if you kick ’em all out, you’ll have nothing else to watch but football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts,” Streep said at the Jan. 8 Award show. Streep received a lot of backlash and criticism for her speech, characterizing her comments as out of touch and the type of condescending attitude from Hollywood that helped Trump win.
Awards show hosts have remained tame compared to some of the presenters and award recipients, a signal that the hosts and their networks do not want to politicize the televised events to a point that cause viewers to tune out.
Jimmy Kimmel of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” is hosting the 2017 Oscars and said that he wasn’t sure how political he would get Sunday night.
“I’m not sure how to answer that question. I mean, will Donald Trump be mentioned by me and during the show? Absolutely. How much I’m not sure yet. It kind of depends on what’s happening that day, you know?” Kimmel told the Associated Press Friday. Kimmel is not concerned about alienating conservative viewers, telling the AP that “smart people know funny is funny.”
“Everybody for some reason has decided that they have to pick a side, and I think people would be a lot happier if, when they heard a joke, they enjoyed the joke and didn’t attach some kind of rooting interest to it,” Kimmel explained.
While some the Academy Award winners are likely to criticize the president Sunday evening, Trump may have no problem issuing a verbal retaliation. The president has a history of criticizing the Academy Awards publicly, and in 2015, just four months before announcing his candidacy for president, blasted the Oscars for being boring.
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In 2014, Trump did not mince words on his thoughts regarding the Oscars:
I don't know how much longer I can take this bullshit – so terrible! #Oscars
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 3, 2014
Trump even took a shot at President Obama and the failed Obamacare website roll out while bashing the Oscars, sending the following Tweet after the 2014 Academy Awards:
Was President Obama in charge of this years Academy Awards – they remind me of the ObamaCare website! #Oscars.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 3, 2014
The Award winners are selected by the close to 6,000 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The 89th Academy Awards air at 8:30 p.m. ET Sunday night on ABC.
This report, by Ted Goodman, was cross-posted by arrangement with the Daily Caller News Foundation.
