Alyssa Milano generates far more headlines today for her politics than her Hollywood roles.
The veteran actress rebranded herself as a full-time activist following Donald Trump’s election. Now, media outlets cover her every move or thought, especially regarding Milano’s #MeToo activism.
That goes for traditional Hollywood reporters as well as mainstream scribes.
That came to a screeching halt this week. The same liberal bias infecting mainstream media is even more pronounced in entertainment journalism.
We’re seeing just that right now.
Conservative media outlets have been calling out the “Charmed” alum for ignoring the credible, serious sexual assault allegation against former Vice President Joe Biden.
Tara Reade, an ex-staffer for the presidential candidate, said Biden assaulted her back in 1993, but she’s struggled to get her story out to the public over the years.
Even liberal outlets are calling out the media for its lack of interest in the Biden allegations.
Milano backed Biden’s current presidential bid months ago. More recently, she stayed silent after Reade’s shocking allegation went public. For that, her “Charmed” co-star, Rose McGowan, slammed her as a “fraud.”
Milano fractured her silence on the subject this week, telling sympathetic interviewer Andy Cohen why Biden’s allegation shouldn’t derail his presidential dreams.
“I just don’t feel comfortable throwing away a decent man I’ve known for 15 years in this time of complete chaos,” she told Cohen. “Believe All Women,” we were suddenly told, came with a big, ol’ asterisk.
Given Milano’s silence, position in the #MeToo hierarchy and recent fame, her honking double standard should have been catnip to Hollywood media outlets. Think The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline.com, Variety and TheWrap.com.
Yet a good-faith web search on all those platforms showed they treated the Milano confession like a “dog bites man” story from Smalltown, USA.
They ignored it.
Variety has even less excuse than the other outlets. The site previously published an op-ed from Milano, so it’s clearly connected to the starlet.
For example, Variety published Milano’s rant excoriating Brett Kavanaugh based on a sexual abuse allegation as flimsy as any in recent memory.
We heard from President Trump and from Judge Kavanaugh himself how he was the real victim. And from that group of 11 Republican men on the Judiciary Committee, we heard about what a great man Kavanaugh is. Even after Dr. Ford’s powerful accusations became public, those men painted a picture of the honest carpool dad filled with integrity.
Yet Variety thought Milano’s comments on Biden weren’t worth a single story?
It isn’t just entertainment sites ignoring Milano’s obvious double standard. Enter “Alyssa Milano Biden” into Google News and you’ll see only conservative outlets covering the matter.
Hypocrisy is one of the biggest news drivers on any topic. A pro-life politician paying his paramour to have an abortion. A climate change warrior whose home has a massive carbon footprint.
The same holds true for a loud and proud feminist ignoring a woman’s cry for justice, the same cry that too often got ignored in our pre-Harvey Weinstein world.
The bigger question remains. Why would outlets ignore such a click-worthy story? Don’t they care about traffic and, more importantly, ad revenue created by viral stories?
Perhaps.
They care far more, though, about protecting Hollywood stars whose world view aligns with theirs. It’s impossible to report on Milano’s recent Cohen interview and come up with any other conclusion than she’s insincere about the #MeToo movement.
To put it bluntly, Reade’s harrowing story matters far less than Biden’s presidential aspirations.
Of course Milano isn’t alone in her silence. The vast majority of Hollywood stars took a knee once the Biden allegation surfaced. McGowan may be the most notable actor to speak out on the matter.
Their celebrity peers stayed mum on the issue, another blow against their #MeToo activism.
This episode also reveals how little we should trust entertainment journalists when a story intersects with the political landscape.
Forget, “if it bleeds, it leads.” The new mantra is, “all the news that’s fit to print … assuming it supports our progressive agenda.”
Related: Limbaugh: ‘Crazy Bernie’ Drops Out And Media ‘Goes Nuts’