A wide swath of the normally politically-engaged celebrities in Hollywood are being called out for tempering their criticism of Donald Trump since he defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in November.
In a scathing column written by the Hollywood Reporter's Steven Zeitchick, two of the stars of the critically acclaimed "The Apprentice," which documented Donald Trump's association with controversial lawyer Roy Cohn, expressed dismay that the film is being ignored post-election.
In an interview, actor Jeremy Strong, who played Cohn lamented, "People have been afraid to touch this film, to be seen as complicit in the film, to support the film, to publicly endorse the film and certainly to show the film on a streaming platform."
ALSO READ: Revealed: The secret Republican plot to disenfranchise millions of voters
He added, "But the role of storytelling is to hold up a mirror. It’s not to make people feel comfortable. It’s not simply to entertain. It is to hold feet to the fire."
With Strong pointing out, “I can’t think of a subject more relevant to what all of us are living through. Not to be embraced by the industry has been really hard," co-star Sebastian Stan who played Trump agreed stated, "When it comes to artistry and creativity, we have to be able to protect free speech. It shouldn’t be selective free speech."
That led the Hollywood Rerporter's Zeitchick to write, "Something strange has been happening to The Apprentice, which despite acute timeliness and an 83 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes has been willed away by the industry. Most distribution execs wouldn’t touch it; actors won’t talk about it. The film shows how Cohn’s bare-knuckle approach shaped a young Trump. And whether entertainers fear validating Trump’s relevance or worry about repercussions for seeming critical of his power, they’ve sidestepped the subject."
You can read more here.
