Editor’s Note: Whether on screen or off, Hollywood can always be counted on to keep us entertained. This is especially true when it comes to politics. Join us each week as we shine the spotlight on Tinseltown’s A-listers and their whacky and sometimes inspiring takes on today’s current events.
Tinseltown Celebrates Biden as President
It didn’t take long for HollyWeird’s finest to exercise their tweeting fingers congratulating Joe Biden as the president-elect shortly after the news networks claimed victory for the former vice president. Most of the celebrities were giddy with joy, and plenty used the opportunity to bash Donald Trump.
Van Jones
Viola Davis, the first black actress to win the Triple Crown of Acting award and star on “How to Get Away With Murder” tweeted: “Woooooohooooo!!!!!! PHILLY!!!!! AMERICA!!!!!! BLACK FOLK!!!! BLACK PEOPLE!!!!!!!! GOD BLESS YOU!!!!!!!” She added: “Now…. let’s fight for that Senate!!!!!!!” Rob Reiner said, “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead,” and Michael Moore wrote: “CONGRATULATIONS FELLOW AMERICANS! TRUMP DEFEATED!! Now we must defeat that which gave us Trump.” The Incredible Hulk Mark Ruffalo, who also participated in the get naked and vote public announcement, put in his two cents with, “Trump and Co .thought they had a mandate with their 3mil popular vote LOSS and measly squeak by’s in swing states. We crushed both. Ultra Mandate! 4 years for our Base.”
Comedian Mario Cantone had a rather bizarre and violent message: “NYC is screaming, honking and pounding pans with jubilant Joy! The man who shot so many people on Fifth Avenue is gone.” Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick) said: “We must heal. But first, we must gloat. Cc: @realDonaldTrump.” Talk show host Seth Meyers decided to toss in a quip about the president choosing to golf Saturday morning before his legal team’s press conference in Pennsylvania: “How many years were you President? FORE!” And forever Trump and Melania hater, actress Bette Midler had to have her say too with: “Yes, it’s over, thank God, but Trump will fight on till he gets ‘something for leaving’. I’m sure he’ll announce his conspiracy theories today.”
Meanwhile, over on CNN, News Commentator Van Jones polished his acting skills and produced crocodile tears in reaction to the Biden win:
“It’s easier to be a dad this morning. It’s easier to tell your kids, ‘Character matters, being a good person matters’. And it’s easier for a whole lot of people. If you’re Muslim in this country, you don’t have to worry that the president doesn’t want you here. If you’re an immigrant, you don’t have to worry if the president is happy your baby has been snatched away.”
Many celebrities were quick to congratulate Kamala Harris as the first black woman to be elected vice president. Keke Palmer (Hustlers) wrote: “My VP is a black woman!” And later tweeted: “I’m so inspired and truly astonished to look and see a black woman in this position. I say BLACK because representation MATTERS! In America I have searched over and over again as a black girl for people in positions of power that look like me!”
Uzo Aduba (Orange Is the New Black) tweeted out “HERSTORY” while Julia Louis-Dreyfus said: “‘ Madam Vice President’ is no longer a fictional character.” Crime/Mystery novelist Don Winslow tweeted: “Dear All young Black girls/ladies/women,If Kamala Harris can be our Vice President, Kamala Harris can be our President.AND SO CAN YOU!”
And finally, Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation co-founder and executive director Patrisse Cullors said in a statement:
“Once again, Black people – especially Black women – have saved the United States. Whether in Milwaukee, Detroit, Philadelphia or Atlanta, Black voters showed up in huge numbers to turn the country around and remove the racist in the White house… It’s striking that the same people who have been treated the worst by our democracy are doing the most to save it.”
Sen. Kelly Loeffler
Celebrities Fight for Georgia
Now that the media has decided Biden has won the presidency (although election officials have yet to make that judgment), Hollywood’s finest are out trying to advocate for Democrats in the state of Georgia, trying to make sure Republicans do not get a foothold. A special election will be held to fill retiring Republican Senator Johnny Isakson’s seat. Raphael Warnock (D) and Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R) will face off in that contest. Also, another runoff is in the works between Sen. David Perdu (R) and Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff if neither can win 50% of the vote.
Game show host Billy Eichner said: “I will go to GA to help win these Senate seats. I will get a Covid test every day. I will live at Tyler Perry’s movie studio. I will get re-bar mitzvah’ed at whichever synagogue Jon Ossoff and his wife attend. We MUST win these Senate seats. I WILL DO WHAT NEED TO BE DONE! U in?”
Other big-name celebrities throwing in their support to fill the open seats with Democrats included Billy Baldwin, Debra Messing, and Mandy Moore.
Cheers and Jeers
Sometimes, HollyWeird players make headlines for silly or bizarre happenings, so here is a collection of newsworthy doings — honorable and dishonorable — by the tenants of Tinseltown.
Depp Drops Fantastic Beasts
Johnny Depp (no introduction needed) has been fighting his ex-wife Amber Heard in court over allegations that he had abused her during their marriage. In 2018, The Sun called the actor a “wife-beater” in an article, and Depp sued, but recently lost the case. He’d been cast in Fantastic Beasts, a spinoff of the Harry Potter series, to play the role of Gellert Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts 3, but was recently asked to step down after losing the court battle. “I wish to let you know that I have been asked to resign by Warner Bros. from my role as Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts and I have respected and agreed to that request,” Depp wrote in a short statement on Instagram.
The role will be recast and is expected to be released in 2022.
Tune in next week to see what else Tinseltown has planned.
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Read more from Kelli Ballard.
