Neither “Will & Grace” star Debra Messing nor Eric McCormack are getting a lot of love from their Hollywood colleagues for openly promoting the blacklisting of conservatives working in the industry.
Over the weekend, Eric McCormack ignited a firestorm on Twitter when he publicly stated that he would no longer work with Trump supporters, and asked to be told who would be in attendance at a fundraiser for the president in Beverly Hills.
“Hey, [THR], kindly report on everyone attending this event, so the rest of us can be clear about who we don’t wanna work with. Thx,” tweeted McCormack.
Shortly thereafter, Messing joined in on the Trump supporter hate-fest when she also demanded to know the names of those in attendance at the fundraiser, effectively supporting a blacklist against people who think differently from her. “Please print a list of all attendees please. The public has a right to know,” she tweeted.
After several Hollywood conservatives, including actor Nick Searcy and Kristy Swanson, publicly denounced the two co-stars, “The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg took Messing and McCormack to task for their McCarthyite tactics.
“Listen, the last time people did this, people ended up killing themselves,” Goldberg said in reference to the McCarthy-era blacklists. “This is not a good idea, OK? Your idea of who you don’t want to work with is your personal business. Do not encourage people to print out lists because the next list that comes out, your name will be on and then people will be coming after you.”
“We had something called a blacklist and a lot of really good people were accused of stuff,” Goldberg continued. “Nobody cared whether it was true or not. They were accused. And they lost their right to work. You don’t have the right! In this country, people can vote for who they want to. That is one of the great rights of this country. I’m sure you guys misspoke when you said that because it sounded like a good idea. Think about it. Read about it. Remember what the blacklist actually meant to people and don’t encourage anyone—anyone to do it.”
President Trump also joined the backlash against Messing when he tweeted that she once respectfully greeted him when he was employed with NBC.
“I have not forgotten that when it was announced that I was going to do The Apprentice, and when it then became a big hit, helping NBC’s failed lineup greatly, [Debra Messing] came up to me at an Upfront & profusely thanked me, even calling me ‘Sir.’ How times have changed!” Trump tweeted.
After considerable pushback from both the Left and the Right, both McCormack and Messing semi-retracted their statements, accusing their critics of misinterpreting them.
“I want to be clear about my social media post from last week, which has been misinterpreted in a very upsetting way. I absolutely do not support blacklists or discrimination of any kid, as anyone who knows me would attest. I’d simply like to understand where Trump’s major donations are coming from, which is a matter of public record. I am holding myself responsible for making educated and informed decisions that I can morally and ethically stand by and to do that, transparency is essential,” wrote McCormack on Instagram.
Messing later tweeted her co-star’s message alongside the caption, “I couldn’t have said it better.”