On Wednesday, prominent filmmaker Ron Howard ripped into President Donald Trump, explaining that folks in Hollywood hate the president because they see that he is a “self-serving, dishonest, morally bankrupt ego maniac,” unlike the rubes in Middle America supporting the president.
After the director was questioned by folks online for denigrating the economic successes of the president, Howard posted: “In the entertainment industry many who have known/worked [with] Trump think that while his reality show was fun and ran a long time, he’s a self-serving, dishonest, morally bankrupt ego maniac who doesn’t care about anything or anyone but his Fame & bank account & is hustling the US.”
In the entertainment industry many who have known/worked w/ Trump think that while his reality show was fun and ran a long time, he’s a self-serving, dishonest,morally bankrupt ego maniac who doesn’t care about anything or anyone but his Fame & bank account & is hustling the US https://t.co/Ep8ggvquMY
— Ron Howard (@RealRonHoward) January 1, 2020
The commentary, wherein Hollywood is a framed as a virtuous industry that can spot the “self-serving, dishonest, morally bankrupt ego maniac[s],” was generally not taken totally seriously — particularly given the scandalous state of the industry.
Here are some of the online reactions (h/t Twitchy):
“Says, Ron Howard, my ‘Night Shift’ director who described the majority of the film industry. [By the way], Ron, is there still rampant drug use and adultery in your film trailers and offset, by film execs and cast?!” wrote former Playboy model and “Bond girl” Robbin Young.
🙄Says, Ron Howard, my ‘Night Shift’ director who described the majority of the film industry.
BTW, Ron, is there still rampant drug use and adultery in your film trailers and offset, by film execs and cast?! 😵 https://t.co/qQnqnT5Y0f
— Robbin Young (@Robbin_Young) January 2, 2020
“Ron Howard is free to hate and tweet bad things about Trump, but he shouldn’t act like the entertainment industry is some paragon of moral virtue considering how many ‘open secrets’ we’ve learned about lately,” commented popular political Twitter account “neontaster.” “He palled around with Weinstein likely knowing exactly what’s what.”
Ron Howard is free to hate and tweet bad things about Trump, but he shouldn't act like the entertainment industry is some paragon of moral virtue considering how many "open secrets" we've learned about lately. He palled around with Weinstein likely knowing exactly what's what.
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) January 2, 2020
“You just described the majority of Hollyweirdos… *golf clap*,” responded political writer Kimberly Morin.
You just described the majority of Hollyweirdos… *golf clap*
— Kimberly Morin (@Conservativeind) January 2, 2020
“Odd, but that’s how most of Americans feel about Hollywood!!!” another Twitter user posted.
Odd, but that's how most of Americans feel about Hollywood!!! https://t.co/prVYLdn3ND
— Katie Roth (@Katydidinnc) January 2, 2020
“Hey Ron, big fan. Speaking of morally bankrupt, just curious if you took part with the rest of Hollywood in giving Roman Polanski a standing ovation?” asked another user.
Polanski famously pleaded guilty to raping and sodomizing a 13-year-old girl and then fled to Europe to avoid punishment, as previously noted by The Daily Wire. Aside from the standing ovation, Hollywood actress and “The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg defended the assault, calling it, “not rape-rape.”
Hey Ron, big fan. Speaking of morally bankrupt, just curious if you took part with the rest of Hollywood in giving Roman Polanski a standing ovation?
— Common Sense (@Paine_1776) January 2, 2020
In recent years, the uncovering of so-called “casting couch” culture in Hollywood has come to light. As noted by The Daily Wire, dozens of women from the industry came forward to claim sexual harassment and assault within Hollywood ranks. One of the most egregious alleged “casting couch” offenders named during the height of #MeToo was Democratic Party mega-donor and heavyweight producer Harvey Weinstein:
Hollywood’s Harvey Weinstein scandal — a scandal in which dozens of women are coming forward to allege sexual harassment and assault from a man widely rumored to be a monster for decades — famous starlet after famous starlet has written of her experiences in Tinseltown with flesh peddlers who call themselves producers. Molly Ringwald alleges that she has had “plenty of Harvey Weinsteins of my own over the years,” including a fifty-year-old crew member sexually assaulting her when she was 13 years old; America Ferrara says she was sexually assaulted at age nine; Reese Witherspoon at age 16.