South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho – known for his 2013 dystopian thriller “Snowpiercer” – was the big winner at the Academy Awards this year with his latest film, “Parasite.” Like Joon-ho’s previous works, “Parasite” is largely about income inequality and societal divides between the rich and the poor; it portrays the clandestine rise of a poor, downtrodden family as they cunningly infiltrate a wealthy but witless household.
It reminded me of an older film from 1979; Hal Ashby’s “Being There,” an adaptation of a 1970 novel of the same name, starring Peter Sellers. Sellers played a jejune gardener who’d spent his entire life in recluse, tending the garden of an aging baron. When his employer passed away, the gardener was, for the first time in life, evicted and sent out into the wilderness of urban Washington D.C. with nothing but a suitcase of fine tailored suits. The film followed Sellers’ rapid rise from homeless illiterate naïf to advisor of the U.S. President (while still an illiterate naïf), as he unknowingly beguiled one wealthy tycoon after another.
“Parasite” shares many similarities in its wry depiction of the upper-class; its assertion that they are, by and large, dim-witted snobs, whose affluence has stranded them aloof from the rest of society. Ki-woo (Choi Woo-shik), a teenage boy from the dumps of South Korea’s working-class inner-city neighborhoods, is offered a job tutoring a high-school teen from a well-off, upper-class family: The Parks. The only caveat is, he has to fabricate his credentials. But once in, he begins to notice “opportunities” to employ the rest of his destitute family by duping the Parks. He convinces the Parks’ mother (Cho Yeo-jeong) that her preadolescent son is a virtuoso artist in need of a special art tutor. He conveniently ropes in his sister, selling her as a credentialed connoisseur (emphasis on the con) of the avant-garde art scene. A deft con artist herself, she immediately begins swindling the gullible mom by comparing her son’s crayon scribbles to works from Jean-Michel Basquiat and insisting on charging a higher fee for a sham she dubs “art therapy.”
Joon-ho goes beyond mockery of elite snobbishness; he pulls you into the trenches of class warfare where he muddies both belligerents such that it’s never clear who to root for. The poor, jobless Kim family wants to conn their way to wealth and will do whatever necessary to stay there. Everyone in the family is a dilettante or a charlatan, unfettered by the bounds of private property. For a people who live within a stone’s throw of a communist dictatorship, you would think they would be more sympathetic to private property rights. But like Michael Bulgakov’s human-brain-transplanted dog, the family immediately take up residence in their new employer’s estate and treats it like their own home (Kim Jong-un would be proud). On the other side is the Park family. In Joon-ho’s portrayal of the rich – while the poor proletariats are seen working at a pizza shop, trying to make ends meet – not one soul in the wealthy Park family is ever once seen working, or doing anything besides shopping and wafting through town in the backseat of luxury cars. There’s no notion or hint of where their wealth came from or what they had to do to earn it. The film suggests that the upper echelons of society are some impenetrable aristocracy into which people are born.
Further skewering social mobility (or lack thereof, in his world) Joon-ho makes repeated references to odor. Specifically, the odor emanating from anyone beneath the highbrow social class. Odor is an inseparable quality hitched onto the poor that even their most deft ploys can’t evade. It is first noticed by the youngest Park, their little boy, who nearly blows the Kims’ cover when, with the instinct of a German Shepherd, he shouts, “You all smell the same!” to all four Kims, who, as far as the Parks are aware, are four unrelated professionals working for them. Like the portrayal of “new money” in Fitzgerald’s “Great Gatsby,” there’s an immutable quality to the destitute in Joon-ho’s underworld. Like Jay Gatsby’s riches attained through bootlegging, the Kims’ newfound, albeit dubiously earned, successes are quickly sniffed out by the Parks.
While Joon-ho obfuscates the boundaries separating right and wrong, making a protagonist impossible to identify, he makes the antagonist clear as day. And that’s ultimately what “Parasite” is about: the corrupting nature of wealth. At every turn, acquiring wealth is presented as a strict alternative to morality rather than a virtue to hanker and work toward. The Kims can be righteous and poor, or debased and well-off. But not both. Upon achieving some semblance of financial comfort, the Kims immediately change; they harden to the point of being unable to sympathize with people who share their working-class roots. When the Parks’ former housewife – whom the Kims artfully replaced with the mother of their family – begs the Kims for help, they reply with scorn and impunity.
While it’s futile to mull over the Oscar-worthiness of “Parasite,” the film was at least deserving of its Best Director win for Bong Joon-ho’s camera work and pacing. In one scene, at the height of the Kims’ hustle, they have comfortably dubbed themselves denizens of the Parks’ suburban home while the wealthy family is away on a camping trip. Languid from reveling in the Parks’ lavish collection of fine liquors, the Kims are left dumbfounded when discovering a thunderstorm had cut the trip short and the Parks are within minutes of entering the house. The Kims’ ensuing scramble to clean and vacate unnoticed delivers heart-thumping, Hitchcockian levels of suspense that you rarely experience in films these days. Overall, “Parasite” was well-acted and packaged with enough twists and turns to keep the story – unlike its rather trite anti-capitalist message – from veering into dreariness or predictability.
Follow Harry Khachatrian on <a href="http://twitter.com/harry1t6">Twitter</a>

Parasite cast

KHACHATRIAN: ‘Parasite’ Film Review

Hollywood

Oscars

Parasite

President Trump has been taking a beating on social media over comments he made at a rally in Colorado on Thursday during which he mocked the Oscars for giving the movie &#8220;Parasite&#8221; Best Picture, which he called &#8220;a movie from South Korea.&#8221;
“How bad were the Academy Awards this year?” Trump asked the cheering crowd, as reported by <a href="https://variety.com/2020/film/news/trump-parasite-oscars-best-picture-south-korea-1203509938/">Variety</a>. “Did you see it?&#8221;
President Trump admitted to not having seen the movie he was lamenting about having won Best Picture and hoped for Hollywood to bring back classics like &#8220;Gone with the Wind&#8221; and &#8220;Sunset Boulevard.&#8221;
&#8220;The winner is… a movie from South Korea! What the hell was that all about? We got enough problems with South Korea with trade,&#8221; said the president. &#8220;On top of that, they give them best movie of the year? Was it good? I don’t know. Let’s get ‘Gone With the Wind.’ Can we get ‘Gone With the Wind’ back, please? ‘Sunset Boulevard’? So many great movies…”
As the audience cheered, Trump continued to mock the idea of a foreign film taking home the Best Picture Oscar instead of &#8220;Best Foreign Film,&#8221; a category that the Academy recently changed to &#8220;Best International Feature.&#8221;
&#8220;The winner is from South Korea!” the president said. “I thought it was best foreign film, right? Best foreign movie. Did this ever happen before?”
To answer the president&#8217;s question, no foreign language film has ever won Best Picture, though some have been nominated, such as Taiwan&#8217;s &#8220;Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon&#8221; or Italy&#8217;s &#8220;Life is Beautiful.&#8221; Some might argue that a foreign film winning Best Picture was bound to happen at one point or another.
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Trump goes off on the Oscars for giving Best Picture to Parasite because it&#39;s a South Korean movie <a href="https://t.co/GUGKdExTbw">pic.twitter.com/GUGKdExTbw</a>
&mdash; Claudia Koerner (@ClaudiaKoerner) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClaudiaKoerner/status/1230655162139791364?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 21, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Critics on social media denounced the president as an ignorant racist for the remarks, taking particular issue with his nostalgia for &#8220;Gone with the Wind,&#8221; which has faced severe scrutiny the past few decades for pushing the &#8220;southern lost cause&#8221; narrative.
&#8220;The most revealing part is that Trump asked for ‘Gone with the Wind’ back. Patriarchy, slavery, celebrating the Old South. Yikes. Trump really does signal to his voters’ worst instincts,&#8221; <a href="https://twitter.com/Robert_E_Kelly/status/1230663829614297090?s=20">tweeted</a> professor Robert Kelly. 
&#8220;Trump loves Gone With The Wind but he prefers to watch it backwards to see the slaves learn their place,&#8221; <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnFugelsang/status/1230671176759959552?s=20">tweeted</a> John Fugelsang. 
&#8220;I’m sorry but this is SENDING me. The racist audience cheered for &#8216;what happened to Gone With the Wind&#8217; but then was quiet for &#8216;Sunset Blvd.&#8217; Too gay for us!!!!!!&#8221; <a href="https://twitter.com/ira/status/1230658029067980800?s=20">tweeted</a> TV writer Ira Madison III. 
&#8220;This is not a comment on Parasite. It&#8217;s white identity politics. It&#8217;s a signal of group identity &amp; romanticism of an entertainment age before non-whites were socially prominent/influential,&#8221; <a href="https://twitter.com/lthomasnews/status/1230663629596450816?s=20">tweeted</a> Sirius XM&#8217;s Luke Thomas.
&#8220;Trump attacks The Academy Awards for naming PARASITE Best Picture, as &#8216;We have enough problems with South Korea, with trade!,&#8217; suggests GONE WITH THE WIND (from 1939) instead. Audience cheers approval. These are people without minds or value. Can&#8217;t &#8216;save&#8217; them, don&#8217;t need them,&#8221; <a href="https://twitter.com/the_moviebob/status/1230659670873911297?s=20">tweeted</a> producer Bob Chipman.
&#8220;Gone with the Wind is a romanticized white wash of slavery and the antebellum South and the author Margaret Mitchell had tremendous &#8216;economic anxiety.&#8217; Of course Trump would prefer it over PARASITE, a brilliant movie commenting on classism and income inequality,&#8221; <a href="https://twitter.com/WajahatAli/status/1230677562403250176?s=20">tweeted</a> CNN&#8217;s Wajahat Ali.

US-POLITICS-TRUMP

WATCH: Trump Laments Oscars Giving ‘A Movie From South Korea’ Best Picture. Internet Responds.

Donald Trump

South Korea

During the Sunday, February 9 Academy Awards broadcast, actors Shia LaBeouf and Zack Gottsagen presented the award for best Live Action Short Film.
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During the presentation, LaBeouf appeared to smile and lightly laugh several times. This didn’t sit well with some, who took to social media following the presentation in order to voice their displeasure with what they believed was mockery at Gottsagen’s expense.
Gottsagen, 34, has Down syndrome.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Is it just me or did Shia Labeouf seem super annoyed to be sharing that announcement? Not cool Shia&#8230;<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Oscars?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Oscars</a>
— Beth Kriner (@bethers137) <a href="https://twitter.com/bethers137/status/1226684566196359172?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
<blockquote>Is it just me or did Shia Labeouf seem super annoyed to be sharing that announcement? Not cool Shia&#8230;<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Oscars?src=hash">#Oscars</a></blockquote>
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We gonna talk about <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/shialabeouf?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#shialabeouf</a> being a dick to that kid with Down syndrome? Dude straight stole that kids moment <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Oscars2020?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Oscars2020</a> let him have his moment <a href="https://t.co/jRU8v3EDgf">pic.twitter.com/jRU8v3EDgf</a>
— Rae (@gangstahgandalf) <a href="https://twitter.com/gangstahgandalf/status/1226685341932781570?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
<blockquote>We gonna talk about <a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/hashtag/shialabeouf?src=hashtag_click">#shialabeouf</a> being a dick to that kid with Down syndrome? Dude straight stole that kids moment #Oscars2020. Let him have his moment.</blockquote>
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I came to Twitter just to tweet that it was not cool that he snickered when the other person struggled. VERY not cool.
— S H Messner (@shallmess) <a href="https://twitter.com/shallmess/status/1226685655570272257?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
<blockquote>I came to Twitter just to tweet that it was not cool that he snickered when the other person struggled. VERY not cool.</blockquote>
Just as quickly as LaBeouf’s critics sent out their tweets, other users jumped in to defend the actor:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
90% of twitter right now has never heard of The Peanut Butter Falcon and doesn’t know about the sweet friendship between Shia LaBeouf and Zack Gottsagen. Direct your misguided judgement somewhere else.
— Will Tempfer (@wtempfer) <a href="https://twitter.com/wtempfer/status/1226687849975689217?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
<blockquote>90% of twitter right now has never heard of The Peanut Butter Falcon and doesn’t know about the sweet friendship between Shia LaBeouf and Zack Gottsagen. Direct your misguided judgement somewhere else.</blockquote>
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As a mom of a young man with Down Syndrome, it is refreshing to see two friends present together without the pandering and handholding that often accompanies such a relationship. Shia treated Zack like an equal, not like a baby. That’s a healthy relationship. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TheOscars?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TheOscars</a>
— Randi Downs (@randidowns45) <a href="https://twitter.com/randidowns45/status/1226698044659445760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
<blockquote>As a mom of a young man with Down Syndrome, it is refreshing to see two friends present together without the pandering and handholding that often accompanies such a relationship. Shia treated Zack like an equal, not like a baby. That’s a healthy relationship. <a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/hashtag/TheOscars?src=hashtag_click">#TheOscars</a></blockquote>
Even LaBeouf’s “Honey Boy” director, Alma Har’el, jumped into the fray, noting that the actor said he would only present at the ceremony if Gottsagen could be up there with him.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Shia was offered to present an Oscar. He said he would do it if he can share that moment with his beloved co-star Zach Gottsagen who we all adore. It’s stressful up there&#8230; <a href="https://t.co/F75aT1vURa">pic.twitter.com/F75aT1vURa</a>
— Alma Har&#8217;el(@Almaharel) <a href="https://twitter.com/Almaharel/status/1226694550950858752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
<blockquote>Shia was offered to present an Oscar. He said he would do it if he can share that moment with his beloved co-star Zach Gottsagen who we all adore. It’s stressful up there.</blockquote>
For some context, during the filming of “The Peanut Butter Falcon” in the summer of 2017, LaBeouf was arrested and charged with “obstruction, disorderly conduct, and public drunkenness,” reports <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/07/08/entertainment/shia-labeouf-arrest/index.html">CNN</a>.
Co-start Zack Gottsagen, with whom LaBeouf formed a friendship, reportedly helped him in his recovery.
During an October 2019 <a href="https://www.insider.com/shia-labeouf-zack-gottsagen-peanut-butter-falcon-arrest-2019-10">interview</a> with Channel 4’s Cathy Neman, LaBeouf said that during filming after his arrest, Gottsagen “nursed me back, on a boat, during a scene where we&#8217;re talking about, like, the painful past.”
Speaking with Newman, Gottsagen said he told LaBeouf that he had “one chance to prove to himself: never, never, never do this kind of stuff again.”
LaBeouf explained to Newman that his friendship with Gottsagen, and that moment, had a major impact on his life.
The actor made a similar statement during a lengthy interview with <a href="https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a19181320/shia-labeouf-interview-2018/">Esquire</a> in 2018:
<blockquote>To hear him say that he was disappointed in me probably changed the course of my life. &#8230; He keeps it one thousand with you, and that sh*t doesn’t even make sense to him. Zack can’t not shoot straight, and bless him for it, [because] in that moment, I needed a straight shooter who I couldn’t argue with.</blockquote>
Following the Oscars presentation, the backlash, and the backlash to the backlash, Gottsagen’s mother Shelly spoke out, telling <a href="https://toofab.com/2020/02/10/shia-labeouf-would-never-disrespect-friend-zack-gottsagen-says-mom-exclusive/">TooFab</a>:
<blockquote>I would hate to see any misconception out there. I mean, you know, Shia is just wonderful, you know, we really love him. If anything, I think they were grinning because it was hard to get the envelope open.</blockquote>
Gottsagen’s mother added that the “respect that Shia and Zack have for each other is beautiful.”
<blockquote>Their friendship is really, really beautiful. And, you know, it just, it upset me when I thought that somebody was thinking that Shia could have ever had a kind of negative attitude [because] he&#8217;s been nothing, nothing, nothing but supportive.</blockquote>
“They&#8217;re very tight. They love each other, really encourage each other,&#8221; she continued. Gottsagen’s mother also noted that LaBeouf is “very supportive of Zack as an actor.”

Shia LaBeouf and Zack Gottsagen

Zack Gottsagen’s Mother Defends Shia LaBeouf After Oscars ‘Controversy’

Down Syndrome

Peanut Butter Falcon

Shia LaBeouf

Zack Gottsagen

Accepting an Oscar for Best Sound editing on Sunday night at the Academy awards for his work on the film “Ford v Ferrari,&#8221; Donald Sylvester <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7993777/Oscar-winning-Ford-v-Ferrari-sound-editor-criticized-using-acceptance-speech-thank-wife.html">acknowledged his gratitude</a> to his wife for giving up her own editing career to raise their children so his career could succeed, saying, “I want to thank my wonderful wife of 34 years who gave up her editing career for me to pursue my career …”
He was met with dead silence before he continued, “… but she raised our kids and she did a great job because neither one of them are politicians.”
Sylvester’s thank-you to his wife elicited a barrage of criticism on social media in addition to the silence from the audience, including these: “Brava women heroes, sacrificing careers so white men can do what they want &amp; not raise the kids,” “If Donald Sylvester’s wife hadn’t given up her editing career for him, would she be on the Oscar stage tonight?” and “In the future we want lots of women onstage thanking their husbands for doing the same thing.”
But Sylvester’s wife, Penny Shaw Sylvester, the daughter of the late great actor and writer Robert Shaw, was caught on camera beaming when her husband thanked her, saying,“Hi Peter” and “Hi Louise” to her children. She told the <a href="https://www.deseret.com/indepth/2020/2/10/21132057/oscar-winner-stay-at-home-wife-ford-v-ferrari-brad-pitt">Deseret News</a> that the criticisms of her husband were “ridiculous,” adding, “For anybody to criticize makes me extremely angry, because they know nothing about my life or my family and the choices we’ve had to make.”
The Deseret News noted, “The couple, who live near Los Angeles, have two children, now ages 30 and 25, and Penny Shaw Sylvester decided to quit working full time when it became clear that one of the children had special needs and would require extra care.”
Penny Sylvester continued, “I was paying someone to take care of my special-needs child and I realized they couldn’t do it as well as I could. Nobody knows a child as well as the parents do.” The Deseret News reported that she not only raised the children but also worked with special education in her local school district and ran a summer-school program.
The<a href="https://www.ajc.com/entertainment/ford-ferrari-propulsive-soundscape-has-georgia-roots/PoNFWKgmuQ4QWpdT9RpLfP/">Atlanta Journal- Constitution</a> reported that Penny Sylvester was the one who suggested that with her husband’s ear for music, he might have a successful career as a sound editor.
Penny Sylvester concluded, “To say that I don’t work is absolutely ludicrous, but what I did do is leave the entertainment industry,” adding that she has “a very rich, fulfilled life. I love what I do, I love working with the schools, and I love helping children and helping our community, which I think is so much more productive than just cutting a film. I live in the real world. And I help real people.”
She praised her husband, saying, “My husband has been amazing. He’s been an incredible father, and so supportive of everything we’ve done. For some people, working is the correct choice; other people, life takes a turn, and you sometimes have to go with that turn.”
Her husband’s acceptance speech went like this:
<blockquote>Ford v Ferrari is a marriage of sound and picture so while I really want to thank my fantastic sound team, I also want to include the picture team and the mixers. In fact, Ford vs. Ferrari is probably the last film ever made by 20thCentury Fox so I want to thank (post-production supervisor) Aaron Downing and (president of feature post production) Ted Gagliano and (president of production) Emma Watts, but the real support comes from home, so I want to thank my wonderful wife of 34 years who gave up her editing career for me to pursue my career, but she raised our kids and she did a great job because neither one of them are politicians. But the real reason I’m standing here is James Mangold; he is the reason I’m here. He should have been nominated for Best Director, so if I could I’d break this statue off and give him the head so you could put it in the jar, Jim. Thank you, Academy.</blockquote>
Video below:
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ABC&#8217;s Coverage Of The 92nd Annual Academy Awards &#8211; Show

Social Media Slams Oscar-Winner For Thanking Wife For Giving Up Her Career To Raise Their Kids. Wife Fires Back.

On Tuesday night, Rose McGowan called fellow actress Natalie Portman a &#8220;fraud&#8221; for her pro-female fashion statement at the 2020 Oscars.
As noted by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/natalie-portmans-girl-power-oscar-dress-sparks-mockery">The Daily Wire</a>, Portman showed off a designer cape emblazoned with the names of female directors the actress said were snubbed from the award show.
“I wanted to recognize the women who were not recognized for their incredible work this year, in my subtle way,” Portman explained on the red carpet on Sunday night.
The designer cape scored major points with Portman&#8217;s Hollywood peers, save McGowan.
In a lengthy Facebook post, McGowan branded the &#8220;Black Swan&#8221; actress a &#8220;fraud&#8221; who only cares about herself, posing as &#8220;someone who cares.&#8221;
&#8220;Some thoughts on Natalie Portman and her Oscar ‘protest.’ The kind of protest that gets rave reviews from the mainstream media for its bravery. Brave? No, not by a long shot,&#8221; criticized McGowan. &#8220;More like an actress acting the part of someone who cares. As so many of them do.&#8221;
The actress went on to call Portman&#8217;s activism &#8220;deeply offensive to those of us who actually do the work,&#8221; noting that she&#8217;s &#8220;writing out of disgust.&#8221;
&#8220;Natalie, you have worked with two female directors in your very long career — one of them was you,&#8221; wrote McGowan. &#8220;You have a production company that has hired exactly one female director — you.&#8221;
&#8220;You are the problem,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;Lip service is the problem. Fake support of other women is the problem.&#8221;
McGown recalled listening to Portman speak at a &#8220;Women in Film&#8221; event: &#8220;I quickly realized you and the other women speakers (and that joke of an organization) are just &#8230; frauds. You say nothing, you do nothing,&#8221; she said.
McGowan closed by urging Portman to &#8220;stop pretending you’re some kind of champion for anything other than yourself,&#8221; adding, &#8220;Until you and your fellow actresses get real, do us all a favor and hang up your embroidered activist cloak, it doesn’t hang right.&#8221;
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Some thoughts on Natalie Portman and her Oscar ‘protest.’ The kind of protest that gets rave reviews from the mainstream&#8230;
Posted by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/RoseMcGowan/">Rose McGowan</a> on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/RoseMcGowan/posts/2938303429566181">Tuesday, February 11, 2020</a></blockquote>
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View the entirety of the post, below:
<blockquote>Some thoughts on Natalie Portman and her Oscar ‘protest.’ The kind of protest that gets rave reviews from the mainstream media for its bravery. Brave? No, not by a long shot. More like an actress acting the part of someone who cares. As so many of them do.
I find Portman’s type of activism deeply offensive to those of us who actually do the work. I’m not writing this out of bitterness, I am writing out of disgust.
I just want her and other actresses to walk the walk.
Natalie, you have worked with two female directors in your very long career- one of them was you. You have a production company that has hired exactly one female director- you.
What is it with actresses of your ilk? You ‘A-listers’ (🤮) could change the world if you’d take a stand instead of being the problem. Yes, you, Natalie. You are the problem. Lip service is the problem. Fake support of other women is the problem.
As I wrote in my book Brave, what goes on behind the screen, goes onscreen, goes into the world. And it’s a pervasive sickness that needs its own medicine. 
What you do affects the world, Natalie. As does what you do not do.
I am singling you out because you are the latest in a long line of actresses who are acting the part of a woman who cares about other women. Actresses who supposedly stand for women, but in reality do not do much at all. Of course women in the world will keep buying the perfumes you promote, the movies you make, and think they’re buying into who you are. But who are you?
I was at a Women in Film event that you spoke at once, Natalie. You reeled off depressing statistics and then we all went back to our salads. I quickly realized you and the other women speakers (and that joke of an organization) are just&#8230; frauds. You say nothing, you do nothing.
There is no law that says you need to hire women, work with women, or support women. By all means, you do you. But I am saying stop pretending you’re some kind of champion for anything other than yourself.
As for me, I’ll be over here raising my voice and fighting for change without any compensation. That is activism.
Until you and your fellow actresses get real, do us all a favor and hang up your embroidered activist cloak, it doesn’t hang right.
🪐 RM</blockquote>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/natalie-portmans-girl-power-oscar-dress-sparks-mockery">Natalie Portman’s ‘Girl Power’ Oscar Dress Sparks Mockery</a>

Rose McGowan, Natalie Portman

‘FRAUD’: Rose McGowan Rips Natalie Portman Over ‘Girl Power’ Oscar Dress In Brutal Facebook Post: ‘I’m Writing Out Of Disgust’

Feminism

Political Correctness

Rob Portman

Rose McGowan

Actress and left-wing activist Jane Fonda signaled her goodness this weekend via social media, posting a photo of herself in a recycled designer dress and her &#8220;ethically harvested&#8221; and &#8220;sustainable&#8221; jewelry.
Fonda, an abortion enthusiast and avid climate activist, presented &#8220;Best Picture&#8221; at the 2020 Oscars on Sunday.
&#8220;At Oscars wearing Pomellato jewelry because it only uses responsible, ethically harvested gold and sustainable diamonds. #Oscars,&#8221; the actress posted early Monday morning. 
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At Oscars wearing Pomellato jewelry because it only uses responsible, ethically harvested gold and sustainable diamonds. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Oscars?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Oscars</a> <a href="https://t.co/IBfJzM84v2">pic.twitter.com/IBfJzM84v2</a>
&mdash; Jane Seymour Fonda (@Janefonda) <a href="https://twitter.com/Janefonda/status/1226736313841352704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Fonda&#8217;s designer dress was also reportedly &#8220;recycled,&#8221; meaning she wore it to an award show once before.
The actress took the Oscar &#8220;stage in a gray pixie cut and a crimson beaded Elie Saab gown she previously wore to Cannes in 2014,&#8221; according to <a href="https://people.com/style/oscars-2020-jane-fonda-gray-hair-recycled-gown/?utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter.com&amp;xid=socialflow_twitter_peoplemag&amp;utm_campaign=peoplemagazine">PEOPLE</a> magazine.
The 82-year-old paired the dress with a red coat, which she said was the &#8220;last article of clothing that I will ever buy&#8221; during a recent climate change protests in D.C., dubbed the &#8220;Fire Drill Fridays&#8221; protests.
“You see this coat? I needed something red and I went out and found this coat on sale. This is the last article of clothing that I will ever buy,&#8221; she told fellow protesters, according to PEOPLE. &#8220;When I talk to people and say, ‘We don’t really need to keep shopping. We shouldn’t look to shopping for our identity. We don’t need more stuff,’ I have to walk the talk. So I’m not buying any more clothes.”
Fonda&#8217;s &#8220;ethical&#8221; and &#8220;sustainable&#8221; jewelry boast grabbed the attention of folks online.
&#8220;&#8216;My gold and diamonds are ethically sourced&#8217; is the best elitist virtue signal I have ever heard,&#8221; said BlazeTV&#8217;s Lauren Chen, mockingly adding, &#8220;A true voice for the people.&#8221;
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&quot;My gold and diamonds are ethically sourced&quot; is the best elitist virtue signal I have ever heard <a href="https://t.co/sn13mCufYm">https://t.co/sn13mCufYm</a>
&mdash; Lauren Chen (@TheLaurenChen) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheLaurenChen/status/1227246487874265088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2020</a></blockquote>
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A true voice for the people
&mdash; Lauren Chen (@TheLaurenChen) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheLaurenChen/status/1227247005296144384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Conservative Jason Howerton made fun of Hollywood&#8217;s choices in tackling climate change:
<blockquote>Hollywood: &#8220;Climate Change is about to end the world!&#8221; 
America: &#8220;ok, what do we do?&#8221; 
Jane Fonda: &#8220;Well um, I&#8217;m wearing &#8216;sustainable&#8217; diamonds now.&#8221; 
America: &#8220;Uh, okay&#8230;&#8221; 
Leo DiCaprio: &#8220;I fly my private jet to lecture the world about it.&#8221; 
America: &#8220;That&#8217;s not&#8211;ugh whatever.&#8221;</blockquote>
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Hollywood: &quot;Climate Change is about to end the world!&quot;
America: &quot;ok, what do we do?&quot;
Jane Fonda: &quot;Well um, I&#39;m wearing &#39;sustainable&#39; diamonds now.&quot;
America: &quot;Uh, okay&#8230;&quot;
Leo DiCaprio: &quot;I fly my private jet to lecture the world about it.&quot;
America: &quot;That&#39;s not&#8211;ugh whatever.&quot;
&mdash; Jason Howerton (@jason_howerton) <a href="https://twitter.com/jason_howerton/status/1227246947767083009?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2020</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;I&#8217;ve worn these same Target earrings six days in a row. I am basically Captain Planet,&#8221; said The Daily Wire&#8217;s Emily Zanotti.
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I&#39;ve worn these same Target earrings six days in a row. I am basically Captain Planet. <a href="https://t.co/pGSIsYYNIa">https://t.co/pGSIsYYNIa</a>
&mdash; Emily Zanotti (@emzanotti) <a href="https://twitter.com/emzanotti/status/1227252805141966848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Fonda wasn&#8217;t the only celebrity who signaled his/her &#8220;wokeness&#8221; at the Oscars. Actress <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/natalie-portmans-girl-power-oscar-dress-sparks-mockery">Natalie Portman</a> wore a high-end gown and cape to the Oscars that included the names of female directors who were apparently “snubbed” from receiving nominations at the award show.
“I wanted to recognize the women who were not recognized for their incredible work this year, in my subtle way,” the actress said on the red carpet.
According to <a href="https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/482269-natalie-portman-attends-oscars-in-gown-featuring-names-of">The Hill</a>, the Dior cape complementing Portman’s dress included the names of “Hustlers” writer and director Lorene Scafaria, Melina Matsoukas, the director of “Queen &amp; Slim,” “Honey Boy” director Alma Har’el, and Greta Gerwig, who directed “Little Women.”
And, of course, there was &#8220;Joker&#8221; actor Joaquin Phoenix bizarrely speaking about the insemination of cows at the Oscars.
“We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow and when she gives birth, we steal her baby,” Phoenix said. “Even though her cries of anguish are unmistakable. And then we take her milk that’s intended for her calf and we put it in our coffee and our cereal.”

Jane Fonda

Jane Fonda Bragging About ‘Ethically Harvested’ And ‘Sustainable’ Jewelry Sparks Mockery

Leftism

On Monday’s episode of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” the Daily Wire editor-in-chief talks about the Oscars, the Woke embroidery on Natalie Portman’s dress, and Joaquin Phoenix scolding the public for drinking milk. Video and partial transcript below: 
[Natalie Portman] shows up on the red carpet wearing a cape — but it&#8217;s not just any cape — it&#8217;s a cape that is embroidered with female directors, the names of female directors who were not nominated and therefore are greatly put upon, despite the fact that they earn millions of dollars to direct apparently mediocre films. 
I mean, seriously, the names of the directors that are on there, on her cape, they include the director of “Hustlers.” Does anyone think that “Hustlers” deserve the best director nom this year? Does anyone think that &#8220;Hustlers&#8221; really, really required a best director nomination this year? One of the directors is the director of the Mr. Rogers film. Does anyone think the Mr. Rogers film deserved a best director nomination this year? Does anyone think that Greta Gerwig desperately needed a best director nomination after winning a best director nomination for “Lady Bird?” What exactly are we talking about here? 
The bottom line is that, according to Hollywood, this makes Natalie Portman not have to worry about the fact that she is wealthy and that she has a really easy life — she is now part of the victimized. She&#8217;s part of a coalition of the dispossessed. So the question becomes dispossessed by whom? People do this routinely — dispossessed by the Academy, because the Academy is the font of all evil and super white — so what does the Academy do? Instead of the academy making fun of all this nonsense, the Academy jumps right into it, and they flagellate themselves, and the Academy brings all these people forward, and then they say, “Look how, we know that we&#8217;ve got a problem, guys. We know that we&#8217;ve got a problem, and the first step toward solving a problem is admitting you have a problem and bringing forth people like Natalie Portman, a true victim in American society.”
When I think “victim” I think Natalie Portman, don&#8217;t you? She lives in France with her husband. I feel really, really terrible for Natalie Portman. I feel terrible for all those directors who were given millions and millions of dollars to play with to make really, really kind of mediocre films — that&#8217;s pretty spectacular stuff. 
At least I will hand it to Joaquin Phoenix; at least Joaquin Phoenix is crazy. All these other people are pretty much sane, so when they do stupid things, then you just make fun of them. Joaquin Phoenix, I&#8217;m not sure whether you&#8217;re even allowed to make fun of Joaquin Phoenix at this point because, honestly, he&#8217;s sort of morphed into — Is he still role playing? Is he still just being the Joker? Did he ever get out of the mindset? So Joaquin Phoenix gets up there and he&#8217;s been going around making these sort of environmentalist statements; he really made a sacrifice for the people this year and for the people of Earth — he only has one tuxedo, Joaquin Phoenix — he pointed this out that unlike all these other people of ten tuxedos, he only has one tuxedo — just like all the poor people only have one tuxedo. If you go below the poverty line, everybody&#8217;s got a tux, a thousand-dollar tux hanging in their closet.
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In any case, Joaquin Phoenix wins best actor for the “Joker,” and he makes an insane speech about cows and milk….Joaquin Phoenix last night at the Oscars, lecturing us all about speciesism, which is again, a real hot take — that really is the tragedy, I mean truly. Joaquin Phoenix should have shown up with the names of cows embroidered on his tuxedo — I mean like “Betsy,” “Old Blue,” I mean, they weren&#8217;t nominated for anything either. These cows that have given us our sustenance for generations and not one of them was nominated for an award — not a single one of them was nominated for an award, not a single cow. Unbelievable. Here&#8217;s Joaquin Phoenix explaining to all of us that veganism is the way to go and that basically drinking milk is like you&#8217;re a Nazi. 
<blockquote>PHOENIX: We go into the natural world and we plunder it for its resources; we feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow, and when she gives birth, we steal her baby, even though her cries of anguish are unmistakable. And then we take her milk that&#8217;s intended for a calf and we put it in our coffee and our cereal. </blockquote>
What now? We have to embroider his coat with milk — like “Two Percent,” “Whole” &#8212; What the hell is going on here? What is wrong with you people? What is wrong with you people? Listen, if you want to make the case against factory farming, make the case against factory farming. But we artificially inseminate these cows, and then we take her milk and we use it in our coffee, we use it in our cereal? Yes, we do; that&#8217;s true. You have scored a point against civilization, Mr. Phoenix. Just wow, solid, and the crowd gave him a standing ovation for this — all of whom drink milk, by the way, all of whom are engaging in protein consumption, animal protein consumption. Like the number of vegans in that room, not that high. But again, it&#8217;s all about the &#8220;We&#8217;ve been lectured and we know that we&#8217;ve been lectured.&#8221; 
This is the new church. It&#8217;s a church for folks on the Left, just like a lot of people go to church to be lectured by their pastor about all the sins that they&#8217;ve committed the prior weeks — [so] that they don&#8217;t commit those sins again; it&#8217;s like that at the Oscars. It&#8217;s the one time they go to church every year, and at that church they&#8217;re lectured about their insufficient Wokeness and if they wish to avoid anti-Woke hell, then they will have to pay homage and they will have to do confession with Joaquin Phoenix, which is a really weird type of confession. So, good stuff over at the Oscars, as per the usual, really in touch with the feelings of most Americans. I think that these people really have a bead on what Americans are feeling. 
Honestly, I was feeling a little optimistic this year because there were some actual movies that people saw this year, and none of them won any awards. I mean, the ones that actually won awards, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” got completely skunked; “Joker” won a couple of awards, but “Parasite” waltzed away with a bunch of these awards — a movie that no American has really ever seen — and again, a class warfare film that would have pleased Bernie Sanders if the rest of the film holds up the way that it&#8217;s holding up so far [in the first hour]. 
Well, in any case, we&#8217;ll get to the actual 2020 Democratic race, and I&#8217;ll explain in just a second why these Culture Wars actually matter, because whenever we sound off about this kind of stuff, people on the Left are like, “How dare you say you&#8217;re so triggered by the culture; you&#8217;re so triggered,” which is gaslighting because the reason you do this is because you want attention, you&#8217;re all the the 15-year-old girl who gets her hair put up in some sort of mohawk, and gets a giant nose ring, gets those earrings that like stretch out your ear lobe and then you walk on like, “Why are you looking at me? Why are you looking at me?” 
You&#8217;re the Oscars, that&#8217;s why we&#8217;re looking at you. We all get it; we all get the you want attention; so if we give you attention, you don&#8217;t get to whine about us giving you attention, and if we make fun of you, you don&#8217;t get to whine about us making fun of you. Of course we&#8217;re making fun of you because you look like idiots. 
You look like a bunch of Woke morons who have no actual relationship with like — is there a single impoverished person in America who feels better off today because of what was done at the Oscars last night?   Whose pocketbook got thicker last night? Is there a single woman in America who&#8217;s struggling to make ends meet who is like, “Yes, slay queen because female directors weren&#8217;t winning Oscar noms this year? Slay Queen Natalie Portman.” Who out there felt really emboldened and empowered by that Oscar routine last night? I have a feeling not all that many people, not all that many people, except for the Oscar voters who feel really good about themselves because, again, they get to participate in this religious ceremony once  a year.

92nd Annual Academy Awards &#8211; Show

SHAPIRO: Joaquin Phoenix Lectures The Church Of The Hollywood Elite

The Oscars took a massive hit in the ratings after the award show promoted left-wing politics on Sunday night ranging from criticizing Republicans all the way to quoting Karl Marx&#8217;s communist manifesto.
&#8220;The ceremony, which clocked in at 3 hours and 35 minutes — up from 3 hours, 23 minutes in 2019 — could not repeat last year’s ratings turnaround, drawing 23.6 million total viewers and a 5.3 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic, based on Nielsen’s Live+Same Day Fast National ratings ordered by ABC,&#8221; Deadline <a href="https://deadline.com/2020/02/oscar-ratings-new-all-time-low-viewership-1202854581/">reported</a>. &#8220;That is down sharply, -20% in viewers and -31% in the demo ,from last year’s 29.6 million and a 7.7 adults 18-49 rating.&#8221;
&#8220;The Oscars join the Emmy Awards in suffering steep ratings declines. The September 2019 Emmy broadcast on Fox fell by 32 percent in viewers and 29 percent in adults 18-49 from the previous year,&#8221; THR <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/oscars-hit-all-time-low-tv-ratings-sunday-feb-9-2020-1278364">reported</a>. &#8220;By comparison, the declines for January&#8217;s Golden Globes (off by 4 percent in viewers and 10 percent in the 18-49 demo) and Grammys (down 6 percent in viewers, 4 percent in the demo) were fairly slight.&#8221;
The massive decline in ratings came after the award show promoted hard-left politics throughout the ceremony.
&#8220;The first Netflix film produced by former President Obama and Michelle Obama&#8217;s production company won an award on Sunday during the Oscars and, while accepting the award, the filmmakers recited Karl Marx’s Communist manifesto,&#8221; The Daily Wire reported. &#8220;Julia Reichert of &#8216;American Factory&#8217; received the award and said: &#8216;Working people have it harder and harder these days – and we believe that things will get better when workers of the world unite.&#8217; The term &#8216;workers of the world unite,&#8217; comes directly from the communist manifesto and was widely noticed by media critics.&#8221;
WATCH:
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How woke! How Hollywood!
Producer Julia Reichert cites the Communist Manifesto because&#8230; well, we all know why. 
“Workers of the world unite.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/kl64TC0uNh">pic.twitter.com/kl64TC0uNh</a>
&mdash; (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) <a href="https://twitter.com/jasonrantz/status/1226701801820282880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Actor Joaquin Phoenix used his allotted time during his acceptance speech to speak out against using the resources that cows provide.
“We’re talking about the fight against the belief that one nation, one people, one race, one gender, or one species has the right to dominate, control, and use and exploit another with impunity,” Phoenix continued. “I think that we’ve become very disconnected from the natural world and many of us, what we’re guilty of, is an egocentric world view, the belief that we’re the center of the universe.”
“We go into the natural world and we plunder it for its resources,” Phoenix continued. “We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow and when she gives birth, we steal her baby. Even though her cries of anguish are unmistakable. And then we take her milk that’s intended for her calf and we put it in our coffee and our cereal. And I think we fear the idea of personal change because we think that we have to sacrifice something to give something up but human beings, at our best, are so inventive and creative and ingenious, and I think that when we use love and compassion as our guiding principles, we can create, develop, and implement systems of change that are beneficial to all sentient beings and to the environment.”
WATCH:
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Who had inseminated cows on their bingo card <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AcademyAwards?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AcademyAwards</a> <a href="https://t.co/hPCdQr4ASj">pic.twitter.com/hPCdQr4ASj</a>
&mdash; Ben McDonald (@Bmac0507) <a href="https://twitter.com/Bmac0507/status/1226721626420441088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Actor Brad Pitt took a shot at Republicans during the ceremony, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/brad-pitt-makes-political-statement-at-oscars-gets-mocked-by-critics">saying</a>, “They told me I only have 45 seconds up here, which is 45 seconds more than the Senate gave John Bolton this week.”
After accepting the award, a reporter asked Pitt, “Tonight, you did have your political reference, what kind of prompted you to go that way?&#8221;
Pitt responded, “I was really disappointed with this week and I think when gamesmanship trumps doing the right thing, it’s a sad day and I don’t think we should let it slide and I’m very serious about that.”
WATCH:
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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Oscars?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Oscars</a> Moment: Brad Pitt wins Best Supporting Actor for <a href="https://twitter.com/OnceInHollywood?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@OnceInHollywood</a> <a href="https://t.co/TSGjMB3v8P">pic.twitter.com/TSGjMB3v8P</a>
&mdash; The Academy (@TheAcademy) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheAcademy/status/1226680327835242497?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
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92nd Annual Academy Awards &#8211; Red Carpet

Oscar Ratings Worst Of All-Time After Award Show Promoted Far-Left Politics

Following the very &#8220;woke&#8221; Oscars on Sunday night, British comedian Ricky Gervais highlighted a warning to the privileged leftists who spouted off about their pet causes during acceptance speeches.
&#8220;I have nothing against the most famous people in the world using their privileged, global platform to tell the world what they believe,&#8221; posted Gervais.
&#8220;I even agree with most of it,&#8221; he said
&#8220;I just tried to warn them that when they lecture everyday, hard working people, it has the opposite effect,&#8221; emphasized the &#8220;After Life&#8221; star. &#8220;Peace.&#8221;
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I have nothing against the most famous people in the world using their privileged, global platform to tell the world what they believe. I even agree with most of it. I just tried to warn them that when they lecture everyday, hard working people, it has the opposite effect. Peace.
&mdash; Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) <a href="https://twitter.com/rickygervais/status/1226912751009878016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
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On Sunday night, Mr. Gervais, who went brutally hard at Hollywood hypocrisy during his stint hosting the 2020 Golden Globes, listed off a couple of jokes he would have made if he were hosting the 2020 Oscars.
“I can’t wait to hear all your inspirational speeches about equality, and it’s great that the [three] hours you’re here tonight is the only time your badly paid migrant house staff will get some time off to sleep this week,&#8221; the comedian said, when asked what his first joke of the night would have been. 
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“I can’t wait to hear all your inspirational speeches about equality, and it’s great that the 3 hours you’re here tonight is the only time your badly paid migrant house staff will get some time off to sleep this week” <a href="https://t.co/fsFbdDkv6u">https://t.co/fsFbdDkv6u</a>
&mdash; Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) <a href="https://twitter.com/rickygervais/status/1226524684734410753?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 9, 2020</a></blockquote>
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For good measure, Gervais rattled off another joke: “It’s great to see such diversity in the room tonight. Rich sex pests of all shapes and sizes,&#8221; he said.
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“It’s great to see such diversity in the room tonight. Rich sex pests of all shapes and sizes” <a href="https://t.co/fsFbdDkv6u">https://t.co/fsFbdDkv6u</a>
&mdash; Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) <a href="https://twitter.com/rickygervais/status/1226528551337385990?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 9, 2020</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;
Despite Gervais&#8217; &#8220;warning,&#8221; there was no shortage of privileged Hollywood liberals&#8217; virtue-signaling.
For example, &#8220;Joker&#8221; actor Joaquin Phoenix bizarrely bloviated about the insemination of cows, The Daily Wire reported.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about some of the distressing issues that we are facing collectively, and I think at times we feel or are made to feel that we champion different causes,” the award-winning actor sounded off. “But for me, I see commonality. I think whether we’re talking about gender inequality or racism or queer rights or indigenous rights or animal rights, we’re talking about the fight against injustice.”
“We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow and when she gives birth, we steal her baby,&#8221; Phoenix said. &#8220;Even though her cries of anguish are unmistakable. And then we take her milk that’s intended for her calf and we put it in our coffee and our cereal.&#8221;
&#8220;And I think we fear the idea of personal change because we think that we have to sacrifice something to give something up but human beings, at our best, are so inventive and creative and ingenious, and I think that when we use love and compassion as our guiding principles, we can create, develop, and implement systems of change that are beneficial to all sentient beings and to the environment,&#8221; he added.
Following his hosting gig at the Golden Globes, Gervais posted similar tweets to liberals.
“I didn’t roast Hollywood for being a bunch of liberals,” he explained via social media. “I myself am a liberal. Nothing wrong with that.”
“I roasted them for wearing their liberalism like a medal,” Gervais added. “I’m such a snowflake, liberal, I can’t even really hate them for it. But my job is to take the p[*]ss. I did that.”
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I didn&#39;t roast Hollywood for being a bunch of liberals. I myself am a liberal. Nothing wrong with that. I roasted them for wearing their liberalism like a medal. I&#39;m such a snowflake, liberal, I can&#39;t even really hate them for it. But my job is to take the piss. I did that. 😇 <a href="https://t.co/bYwqxiyeKu">pic.twitter.com/bYwqxiyeKu</a>
&mdash; Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) <a href="https://twitter.com/rickygervais/status/1215043466738176000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 8, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ricky-gervais-responds-to-critics-upset-over-him-accepting-conservatives">Ricky Gervais Responds To Critics Upset Over Him ‘Accepting’ Conservatives</a>

Ricky Gervais

Ricky Gervais Not Done With Oscar Comments, Highlights ‘Warning’ To Liberals

Golden Globes

Liberalism

Progressivism

If the acceptance speeches at Sunday night&#8217;s Academy Awards ceremony seemed scripted, it&#8217;s because, it seems, they are. According to a report from New York Magazine, Hollywood actors and actresses are now hiring out political speechwriters to pen their thirty-second missives so that they don&#8217;t miss an opportunity to sneak in some political or cultural commentary.
<a href="https://www.vulture.com/2020/02/who-is-writing-brad-pitts-awards-season-speeches.html">Vulture Magazine reports</a> that celebrities, including, supposedly, now-Oscar winner Brad Pitt &#8212; who took home a statuette Sunday night for his role in Quentin Tarantino&#8217;s &#8220;Once Upon a Time in Hollywood&#8221; &#8212; are farming out their speechwriting to firms like Fenway Strategies, run by former speechwriters for President Barack Obama, hoping that ghostwriters can improve their pithiness and amp up their wit.
&#8220;Fenway Strategies is a speechwriting and communications firm founded by former Obama administration officials Jon Favreau and Tommy Vietor. Although the firm’s most obvious connection is to the political arena, helping speakers prep TED talks or United Nations addresses, Fenway has branched out into Hollywood,&#8221; according to Vulture. &#8220;And over the last few years the firm has helped ghostwrite awards acceptance speeches for a number of A-list clients; you definitely know them but their identities are protected by non-disclosure agreements.&#8221;
&#8220;The practice is so widespread among movie, music, and TV stars nowadays,&#8221; Vulture says, that the head of Fenway strategies &#8220;finds it more astonishing to discover a nominee has eschewed professional speechwriting help than when one seeks it out.&#8221;
Sunday night, Pitt opened his speech with a well-constructed, pointed jab at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and members of the Senate Republican caucus who voted against allowing additional witnesses to testify at President Donald Trump&#8217;s impeachment hearings.
“They told me I only have 45 seconds up here, which is 45 seconds more than the senate gave John Bolton this week,&#8221; Pitt said. &#8220;I’m thinking maybe Quentin does a movie about it. In the end the adults do the right thing.”
In fact, it was Pitt who set off Vulture&#8217;s radar. After hearing Pitt&#8217;s acceptance speech at the Screen Actor&#8217;s Guild Award &#8212; a speech the Vulture author seems to believe was uncharacteristically eloquent for the longtime A-lister &#8212; the outlet went searching for an answer as to how Pitt had improved his delivery. No communications firm would admit to ghostwriting for the actor, “[b]ut at least one outside speechwriting agency reached by Vulture (that asked to remain anonymous because of a confidentiality agreement) confirms that Pitt’s representatives contacted the organization to consult about engaging their services.&#8221;
It&#8217;s no surprise that Obama alumni are moving into the entertainment space. Their boss, Barack Obama, was also a winner at Sunday night&#8217;s Oscars, sharing in the success of Best Documentary winner, &#8220;American Factory,&#8221; <a href="https://variety.com/2020/film/news/obama-win-oscar-best-documentary-american-factory-1203498032/">per Variety </a>&#8212; the film perhaps now best known for its directors, who quoted the Communist Manifesto in their own acceptance speech, urging &#8220;workers of the world&#8221; to unite.
The film, which followed the plight of Chinese auto workers shipped in to make cars in a Dayton, Ohio, plant, was produced by Higher Ground, the Obama&#8217;s production company, in partnership with Netflix. The Obamas have a multi-year, multi-production deal with the streaming network.

brad pitt

Report: Former Obama Speechwriters Are Penning Actors’ Acceptance Speeches For Award Season

Barack Obama

Brad Pitt

Last night&#8217;s Academy Awards ceremony was quite possibly the greatest display of heroism since D-Day. I may, in fact, be underselling it. After all, the men who stormed the beaches of Normandy were wearing gauche, cliched uniforms. At least the actor Billy Porter had the courage and fashion sense to step out in a flowing <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/oscars-2020-billy-porter-gold-ensemble-red-carpet">dress</a>. Sure, the dress was ugly and he looked ridiculous, but nonetheless he is, the media tell us, a &#8220;<a href="https://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/a30667840/billy-porter-grammys-style/">hero</a>&#8220;.
Joaquin Phoenix engaged in some heroics of his own. After winning the Academy Award for Best Actor, he launched into a lengthy discourse that included a sermon on the ethics of dairy products. &#8220;We feel entitled to inseminate a cow,&#8221; he said, though to be honest I&#8217;m not sure I&#8217;ve ever felt so much as the desire to inseminate a cow, much less the entitlement. I do, however, like milk for my coffee and cereal, and that is a grave evil in itself, Phoenix explained. He covered many other topics in his acceptance speech, which finally concluded around 8:30 a.m. this morning.
But of all the feats of bravery last night, none came close to the gestures of female empowerment offered by some of the celebrity women in attendance. For example, actress Natalie Portman graced the red carpet <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/natalie-portmans-girl-power-oscar-dress-sparks-mockery">wearing</a> a custom Dior cape embroidered with the names of female directors who weren&#8217;t nominated for an award. In the night&#8217;s most &#8220;<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/women/oscars-2020-feminist-sigourney-weaver-brie-larson-gal-gadot-a9326256.html">empowering</a>&#8221; speech, Sigourney Weaver, Gal Gadot, and Brie Larson declared that &#8220;all women are superheroes.&#8221; This seems an odd way to describe Eva Braun and Andrea Yates, but who am I to judge?
On second thought, perhaps there is a better word than &#8220;courageous&#8221; to describe all of this. Perhaps terms like &#8220;patronizing,&#8221; &#8220;stupid,&#8221; &#8220;hypocritical,&#8221; &#8220;vapid,&#8221; &#8220;vacuous,&#8221; and &#8220;irritating,&#8221; may get closer to the mark.
What exactly is Portman&#8217;s point? Never mind that she made her point by decorating her $20,000 cape. Is she suggesting that all of the female directors on her list should have been nominated simply because they&#8217;re female? Does she want women in the arts to be awarded for having vaginas rather than for the quality of their work? One of the &#8220;snubbed&#8221; female directors is Marielle Heller, who directed the perfectly nice and unobjectionable Mr. Rogers biopic, &#8220;A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood.&#8221; Does anyone really think that this was a master class in film direction? Which male director should have been kicked to the curb for Heller&#8217;s sake?
I would think that the way to empower a woman is to treat her like an individual human person, not an avatar for her entire gender, and to recognize her art on its merits rather than by chromosomal makeup. As it happens, this appears to be what Natalie Portman does when selecting projects. A look at her IMDB page shows that <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000204/">nearly all</a> of her starring roles have been with films directed by men. The last female-directed movie she headlined was back in 2015, and she was the director herself. It seems that the courageous Portman is a huge supporter of female directors named Natalie Portman. Otherwise, she chooses the projects that seem interesting to her — not the projects that have the most estrogen. Yet Portman, like most feminists, expects the rest of the world to operate exactly as she herself does not operate.
The same can be said for the &#8220;all women are superheroes&#8221; declaration. To understand how utterly childish and nonsensical this statement is, just imagine how it would sound if you said it about men. There are good men and bad men and men in between. Likewise with women. And once again, the Hollywood celebrities who pretend to think all women are universally admirable do not remotely come close to living by that belief. Just imagine what Hollywood&#8217;s reaction is going to be when Donald Trump nominates Amy Coney Barrett with his next Supreme Court pick. The girl power schtick will get chucked out the window fast enough to give you whiplash. Recall how Hollywood treated Sarah Palin — now amplify it by a factor of 10.
Of course, I realize that my criticisms of the never-ending &#8220;You go, girl!&#8221; pep rally must be taken with a grain of salt because they are coming from a man. Then again, the fact that I&#8217;m a man by no means excludes me from being a woman. That&#8217;s the other major problem with Hollywood&#8217;s woman empowerment crusade: None of the people engaging in it actually know what a woman is. Or if they know, they won&#8217;t say. Ask any single one of those actresses to provide a workable definition of the word &#8220;woman,&#8221; and they&#8217;ll stammer and stutter before disappearing into the bushes like Homer Simpson. They are trying to empower a group of people that, according to their own theories of gender, doesn&#8217;t actually exist. That should be reason enough to cut it out.

Hollywood Boulevard sign and Palm Trees

WALSH: Enough Of Hollywood’s Vapid, Hypocritical Girl Power Schtick

Actor Joaquin Phoenix gave a bizarre leftist speech as he accepted an award at the Oscars for his role in the movie &#8220;Joker,&#8221; suggesting that humans use the resources that cows provide because humans believe that they are superior to cows.
&#8220;I&#8217;ve been thinking a lot about some of the distressing issues that we are facing collectively, and I think at times we feel or are made to feel that we champion different causes,&#8221; Phoenix said. &#8220;But for me, I see commonality. I think whether we&#8217;re talking about gender inequality or racism or queer rights or indigenous rights or animal rights, we&#8217;re talking about the fight against injustice.&#8221;
&#8220;We&#8217;re talking about the fight against the belief that one nation, one people, one race, one gender, or one species has the right to dominate, control, and use and exploit another with impunity,&#8221; Phoenix continued. &#8220;I think that we&#8217;ve become very disconnected from the natural world and many of us, what we&#8217;re guilty of, is an egocentric world view, the belief that we&#8217;re the center of the universe.”
&#8220;We go into the natural world and we plunder it for its resources,&#8221; Phoenix continued. &#8220;We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow and when she gives birth, we steal her baby. Even though her cries of anguish are unmistakable. And then we take her milk that&#8217;s intended for her calf and we put it in our coffee and our cereal. And I think we fear the idea of personal change because we think that we have to sacrifice something to give something up but human beings, at our best, are so inventive and creative and ingenious, and I think that when we use love and compassion as our guiding principles, we can create, develop, and implement systems of change that are beneficial to all sentient beings and to the environment.&#8221;
WATCH:
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Who had inseminated cows on their bingo card <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AcademyAwards?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AcademyAwards</a> <a href="https://t.co/hPCdQr4ASj">pic.twitter.com/hPCdQr4ASj</a>
&mdash; Ben McDonald (@Bmac0507) <a href="https://twitter.com/Bmac0507/status/1226721626420441088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
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“Now, I have been &#8212; I&#8217;ve been a scoundrel in my life,” Phoenix continued. “I&#8217;ve been selfish, I&#8217;ve been cruel at times, hard to work with and I&#8217;m grateful that so many of you in this room have given me a second chance and I think that&#8217;s when we&#8217;re at our best, when we support each other, not when we cancel each other out for past mistakes, but when we help each other to grow, when we educate each other, when we guide each other toward redemption.”
“That is the best of humanity,” Phoenix continued. “I just I want to, when he was 17, my brother wrote this lyric, he said, ‘Run to the rescue with love and peace will follow.’ Thank you.”
WATCH:
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An emotional Joaquin Phoenix concludes his acceptance speech by remembering his brother River Phoenix: &quot;When he was 17, my brother wrote this lyric. He said, &#39;Run to the rescue with love—and peace will follow.&#39;&quot; <a href="https://t.co/8kz7m5vtnF">https://t.co/8kz7m5vtnF</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Oscars?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Oscars</a> <a href="https://t.co/rg89eYCyLK">pic.twitter.com/rg89eYCyLK</a>
&mdash; ABC News (@ABC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1226723729905987584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Far-left animal rights organization PETA praised Phoenix for his leftist speech, <a href="https://twitter.com/peta/status/1226723427945345026">writing</a>, &#8220;JAW DROP. Sending a HUGE congratulations to #vegan Joaquin Phoenix for winning Best Actor! Joaquin has dedicated his life to ending speciesism and that speech was proof that he is never afraid to speak up for ALL beings. #Joker #Oscars #EndSpeciesism&#8221;
&#8220;THIS is why Joaquin Phoenix is a star in animals’ eyes,&#8221; PETA <a href="https://twitter.com/peta/status/1226728239479033856">added</a>. &#8220;While the entire country was watching, Best Actor winner Joaquin Phoenix took his #Oscars acceptance speech to talk about the cruelty in dairy.&#8221;

US-OSCARS-ARRIVALS

Joaquin Phoenix: ‘We Feel Entitled To Artificially Inseminate A Cow,’ ‘We Steal Her Baby,’ ‘We Take Her Milk’

Joaquin Phoenix

Joker

The first Netflix film produced by former President Obama and Michelle Obama&#8217;s production company won an award on Sunday during the Oscars and, while accepting the award, the filmmakers recited Karl Marx&#8217;s Communist manifesto.
Julia Reichert of &#8220;American Factory&#8221; received the award and said: &#8220;Working people have it harder and harder these days – and we believe that things will get better when workers of the world unite.&#8221;
The term &#8220;workers of the world unite,&#8221; comes directly from the communist manifesto and was widely noticed by media critics.
WATCH:
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How woke! How Hollywood!
Producer Julia Reichert cites the Communist Manifesto because&#8230; well, we all know why. 
“Workers of the world unite.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/kl64TC0uNh">pic.twitter.com/kl64TC0uNh</a>
&mdash; (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) <a href="https://twitter.com/jasonrantz/status/1226701801820282880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Obama praised them, writing on Twitter, &#8220;Congrats to Julia and Steven, the filmmakers behind American Factory, for telling such a complex, moving story about the very human consequences of wrenching economic change. Glad to see two talented and downright good people take home the Oscar for Higher Ground’s first release.&#8221;
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Congrats to Julia and Steven, the filmmakers behind American Factory, for telling such a complex, moving story about the very human consequences of wrenching economic change. Glad to see two talented and downright good people take home the Oscar for Higher Ground’s first release. <a href="https://t.co/W4AZ68iWoY">https://t.co/W4AZ68iWoY</a>
&mdash; Barack Obama (@BarackObama) <a href="https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/1226696870292008960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Communism is an ideology of evil and was estimated to be responsible for the deaths of 100 million people last center.
The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/100-years-of-communismand-100-million-dead-1510011810">reported</a> in 2017:
<blockquote>Such convictions set the stage for decades of murder on an industrial scale. In total, no fewer than 20 million Soviet citizens were put to death by the regime or died as a direct result of its repressive policies. This does not include the millions who died in the wars, epidemics and famines that were predictable consequences of Bolshevik policies, if not directly caused by them.
The victims include 200,000 killed during the Red Terror (1918-22); 11 million dead from famine and dekulakization; 700,000 executed during the Great Terror (1937-38); 400,000 more executed between 1929 and 1953; 1.6 million dead during forced population transfers; and a minimum 2.7 million dead in the Gulag, labor colonies and special settlements.
To this list should be added nearly a million Gulag prisoners released during World War II into Red Army penal battalions, where they faced almost certain death; the partisans and civilians killed in the postwar revolts against Soviet rule in Ukraine and the Baltics; and dying Gulag inmates freed so that their deaths would not count in official statistics.
If we add to this list the deaths caused by communist regimes that the Soviet Union created and supported—including those in Eastern Europe, China, Cuba, North Korea, Vietnam and Cambodia—the total number of victims is closer to 100 million. That makes communism the greatest catastrophe in human history.</blockquote>
Responses varied online with the far-left praises the speech and everyone else either mocking it or expressing shock or outrage.
Far-left activist Adam Best responded: &#8220;The Obamas now have a movie that won at the #Oscars and Trump is still mad over never winning an Emmy. Imagine he’s having a hissy fit right about now.&#8221;
Daily Wire podcast host Michael Knowles responded to Best by writing, &#8220;Do the Obamas also get credit for the filmmaker&#8217;s quoting the Communist Manifesto in her acceptance speech?&#8221;
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Do the Obamas also get credit for the filmmaker&#39;s quoting the Communist Manifesto in her acceptance speech? <a href="https://t.co/KtbN5VUG1m">https://t.co/KtbN5VUG1m</a>
&mdash; Iowa Caucus Winner Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) <a href="https://twitter.com/michaeljknowles/status/1226701895961460736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Commentator Jordan Schachtel wrote: &#8220;The 100 million victims of communist regimes would like to have a word.&#8221;
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The 100 million victims of communist regimes would like to have a word.<a href="https://t.co/aKTBr4VrjA">https://t.co/aKTBr4VrjA</a>
&mdash; Jordan Schachtel (@JordanSchachtel) <a href="https://twitter.com/JordanSchachtel/status/1226702366386380800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Columnist Jonah Goldberg wrote: &#8220;I love that most of my twitter feed thought the big game away from her speech was &#8216;go Buckeyes&#8217; not the opening line from the f***ing Communist Manifesto.&#8221;
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I love that most of my twitter feed thought the big game away from her speech was “go Buckeyes” not the opening line from the f***ing Communist Manifesto. <a href="https://t.co/zHiHVfuoCE">https://t.co/zHiHVfuoCE</a>
&mdash; Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) <a href="https://twitter.com/JonahDispatch/status/1226692767079858178?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
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92nd Annual Academy Awards &#8211; Press Room

Obama-Produced Film Wins Oscar, Producer Quotes Communist Manifesto In Acceptance Speech. Obama Praises.

Netflix

Actor Brad Pitt made a political statement at the Oscars on Sunday about President Donald Trump&#8217;s Senate impeachment trial and was subsequently mocked online by critics.
Pitt, who won Best Supporting Actor for “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” said during his acceptance speech, &#8220;They told me I only have 45 seconds up here, which is 45 seconds more than the Senate gave John Bolton this week.&#8221;
Referencing the director of the movie, Quentin Tarantino, Pitt continued, &#8220;I&#8217;m thinking maybe Quentin does a movie about it and in the end the adults do the right thing.&#8221;
WATCH:
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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Oscars?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Oscars</a> Moment: Brad Pitt wins Best Supporting Actor for <a href="https://twitter.com/OnceInHollywood?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@OnceInHollywood</a> <a href="https://t.co/TSGjMB3v8P">pic.twitter.com/TSGjMB3v8P</a>
&mdash; The Academy (@TheAcademy) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheAcademy/status/1226680327835242497?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Following his acceptance speech, Pitt was confronted about it by a reporter who said, &#8220;Some unkind souls have suggested that you had a writer throughout the speeches this award season, say it ain&#8217;t so.&#8221;
&#8220;Well, no, I&#8217;ve actually, historically I&#8217;ve always been really tentative about speeches, like, they make me nervous,&#8221; Pitt <a href="https://twitter.com/Variety/status/1226685290980364288">responded</a>. &#8220;So, this round I figured if we&#8217;re going to do this, like, put, like, some real work into it and try to get comfortable and, and this is a result of that. Um, no I definitely right them, I have some funny friends, I have some very, very funny friends that help me with some laughs but, but no it&#8217;s got to come from the heart.&#8221;
Another reporter asked, &#8220;Tonight, you did have your political reference, what kind of prompted you to go that way?
Pitt responded, &#8220;I was really disappointed with this week and I think when gamesmanship trumps doing the right thing, it&#8217;s a sad day and I don&#8217;t think we should let it slide and I&#8217;m very serious about that.&#8221;
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Brad Pitt on why he chose to get political in his acceptance speech: “I was really disappointed with this week… I don’t think we should let it slide and I’m very serious about that” <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Oscars?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Oscars</a> <a href="https://t.co/LGLoviQ3Xn">pic.twitter.com/LGLoviQ3Xn</a>
&mdash; Variety (@Variety) <a href="https://twitter.com/Variety/status/1226689481689817088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Critics quickly responded to Pitt&#8217;s remarks online, noting his apparent lack of knowledge about the impeachment process and what happened.
British news personality Piers Morgan said, &#8220;Took 10 seconds for the first winner (Brad Pitt) to bash President Trump. Only surprised it took that long. As always, this will help Trump not hurt him.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Took 10 seconds for the first winner (Brad Pitt) to bash President Trump. Only surprised it took that long. As always, this will help Trump not hurt him. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Oscars2020?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Oscars2020</a>
&mdash; Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) <a href="https://twitter.com/piersmorgan/status/1226677613826981888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Fox News host Greg Gutfeld said, &#8220;I have to hand it to Brad Pitt for coming up with that brave political statement extemporaneously, without any help from various speech-writing agencies that his people definitely did not contact.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
i have to hand it to Brad Pitt for coming up with that brave political statement extemporaneously, without any help from various speech-writing agencies that his people definitely did not contact.
&mdash; GregGutfeld (@greggutfeld) <a href="https://twitter.com/greggutfeld/status/1226677530280812544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Media personality Larry Elder responded, &#8220;Brad Pitt, winner of Best Supporting Actor &#8230; made a crack about John Bolton not testifying before the Senate during the Trump impeachment trial. Apparently, Pitt is unaware that Bolton has REFUSED to testify without a subpoena.&#8221;
Actress Alana Stewart added, &#8220;The first acceptance speech has to have a political jab? Can’t we just have one award ceremony without offending half the viewers? Newsflash, Hollywood, most people don’t care about your political views.&#8221;
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The first acceptance speech has to have a political jab?Can’t we just have one award ceremony without offending half the viewers? Newsflash, Hollywood, most people don’t care about your political views. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BradPitt?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BradPitt</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Oscars?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Oscars</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Oscars2020?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Oscars2020</a> <a href="https://t.co/CLVTGOs7Ns">https://t.co/CLVTGOs7Ns</a>
&mdash; Alana Stewart (@AlanaKStewart) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlanaKStewart/status/1226681435240587264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Fox News contributor Tomi Lahren tweeted, “Brad Pitt, &#8216;They told me I only have 45 seconds up here, which is 45 seconds more than the Senate gave John Bolton this week.&#8217; Look, TDS and @realDonaldTrump have now made the Left cozy up to John Bolton. Their illness knows no bounds!&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Brad Pitt, “They told me I only have 45 seconds up here, which is 45 seconds more than the Senate gave John Bolton this week.”
Look, TDS and <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a> have now made the Left cozy up to John Bolton. Their illness knows no bounds!
&mdash; Tomi Lahren (@TomiLahren) <a href="https://twitter.com/TomiLahren/status/1226685026881789952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Media personality Dana Loesch mocked Pitt, writing, &#8220;Maybe in Quentin’s movie he’ll explore why House Dems didn’t call more relevant witnesses during their investigation.&#8221;
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Maybe in Quentin’s movie he’ll explore why House Dems didn’t call more relevant witnesses during their investigation ¯_( ツ)_/¯ <a href="https://t.co/WNsYAeRIdH">https://t.co/WNsYAeRIdH</a>
&mdash; Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) <a href="https://twitter.com/DLoesch/status/1226677932216782848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
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US-ENTERTAINMENT-FILM-OSCARS-PRESS ROOM

Brad Pitt Makes Political Statement At Oscars, Gets Mocked By Critics

Impeachment

Chris Rock and Steve Martin mocked Democrats during the 2020 Academy Awards on Sunday over the disastrous Iowa caucuses and the homeless problem in Los Angeles.
&#8220;A couple of years ago there was a big disaster here at the Oscars where they accidentally read out the wrong name, and it was nobody’s fault, but they have guaranteed that this will not happen this year because the Academy has switched to the new Iowa caucus app,&#8221; Martin said. &#8220;But what a night!&#8221;
&#8220;Yeah, I don’t know Steve,&#8221; Rock responded. &#8220;I’m a little conflicted, you know. I was driving here tonight and seeing the terrible homeless problem in L.A.—&#8221;
Martin immediately cut him off, yelling, &#8220;Thank you, Chris! So many stars! Oh my God, there’s Brad Pitt. It’s like looking at a mirror.&#8221;
The homeless problem in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/los-angeles-homeless-crisis-worsens-16-paul-bois">Los Angeles</a> and in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/homelessness-is-on-the-rise-in-the-u-s-and-one-state-is-driving-it">California</a> as a whole – both controlled by the Democratic Party – has gotten significantly worse in recent years.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/SteveMartinToGo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SteveMartinToGo</a> &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/chrisrock?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@chrisrock</a>, presenting together at the Oscars, mock the Iowa caucuses fiasco, LA homelessness, Jeff Bezos … <a href="https://t.co/guAW5e8CSV">pic.twitter.com/guAW5e8CSV</a>
&mdash; Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) <a href="https://twitter.com/tomselliott/status/1226676034445205509?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
TRANSCRIPT:
<blockquote>CHRIS ROCK: While we were backstage watching it, Steve says to me, J Lo’s killing it two weeks in a row.
STEVE MARTIN: You know, I was thinking today Chris that we both have hosted the Oscars before and this is such an incredible demotion. They don’t really have hosts anymore. Why is that?
ROCK: Twitter. Hey, everybody’s got an embarrassing tweet somewhere. I know I do.
MARTIN: A couple of years ago there was a big disaster here at the Oscars where they accidentally read out the wrong name and it was nobody’s fault but they have guaranteed that this will not happen this year because the Academy has switched to the new Iowa caucus app. But what a night!
ROCK: Yeah, I don’t know Steve. I’m a little conflicted, you know. I was driving here tonight and seeing the terrible homeless problem in L.A.—
MARTIN: Thank you, Chris! So many stars! Oh my God, there’s Brad Pitt, it’s like looking at a mirror.
ROCK: … Jeff Bezos is here. Jeff Bezos—
MARTIN: Wow, great actor.
ROCK: He’s got cash, when he writes a check the bank bounce. Jeff Bezos is so rich, he got divorced and he’s still the richest man in the world. He saw Marriage Story and thought it was a comedy. Steve, do you have anything that you want to add about Mr. Bezos?
MARTIN: No, I like getting my packages on time.</blockquote>

Chris Rock Steve Martin

Chris Rock, Steve Martin Mock Democrats Over Iowa Caucuses, L.A. Homeless Problem

2020 Election

Chris Rock

Democrats

Homelessness

Iowa Caucuses

Los Angeles

Steve Martin

Comedian Ricky Gervais took shots at Hollywood on Sunday with jokes that he said he would have used if he had been chosen to host the Academy Awards.
Gervais dropped the lines on Twitter in response to being asked, &#8220;[If] you were hosting the Oscars tonight, what’s your first best joke?&#8221;
Gervais responded, “I can’t wait to hear all your inspirational speeches about equality, and it’s great that the 3 hours you’re here tonight is the only time your badly paid migrant house staff will get some time off to sleep this week.”
Several minutes later, Gervais added, “It’s great to see such diversity in the room tonight. Rich sex pests of all shapes and sizes.”
Gervais&#8217;s remarks come after his speech at the 2020 Golden Globes went viral and was widely praised after he brutally mocked Hollywood.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Ricky Gervais kicks off The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoldenGlobes?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoldenGlobes</a>. <a href="https://t.co/ZSdqiWMudx">pic.twitter.com/ZSdqiWMudx</a>
&mdash; NBC Entertainment (@nbc) <a href="https://twitter.com/nbc/status/1214008610667155456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 6, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/never-gonna-happen-ricky-gervais-responds-to-reaction-over-golden-globes-performance">TRANSCRIPT</a>:
<blockquote>You’ll be pleased to know this is the last time I’m hosting these awards, so I don’t care anymore. I’m joking. I never did. I’m joking, I never did. NBC clearly don’t care either — fifth time. I mean, Kevin Hart was fired from the Oscars for some offensive tweets — hello?
Lucky for me, the Hollywood Foreign Press can barely speak English and they’ve no idea what Twitter is, so I got offered this gig by fax. Let’s go out with a bang, let’s have a laugh at your expense. Remember, they’re just jokes. We’re all gonna die soon and there’s no sequel, so remember that.
But you all look lovely all dolled up. You came here in your limos. I came here in a limo tonight and the license plate was made by Felicity Huffman. No, shush. It’s her daughter I feel sorry for. OK? That must be the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to her. And her dad was in Wild Hogs.
Lots of big celebrities here tonight. Legends. Icons. This table alone — Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro … Baby Yoda. Oh, that’s Joe Pesci, sorry. I love you man. Don’t have me whacked. But tonight isn’t just about the people in front of the camera. In this room are some of the most important TV and film executives in the world. People from every background. They all have one thing in common: They’re all terrified of Ronan Farrow. He’s coming for ya. Talking of all you perverts, it was a big year for pedophile movies. Surviving R. Kelly, Leaving Neverland, Two Popes. Shut up. Shut up. I don’t care. I don’t care.
Many talented people of color were snubbed in major categories. Unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do about that. Hollywood Foreign press are all very racist. Fifth time. So. We were going to do an In-Memoriam this year, but when I saw the list of people who died, it wasn’t diverse enough. No, it was mostly white people and I thought, nah, not on my watch. Maybe next year. Let’s see what happens.
No one cares about movies anymore. No one goes to cinema, no one really watches network TV. Everyone is watching Netflix. This show should just be me coming out, going, “Well done Netflix. You win everything. Good night.” But no, we got to drag it out for three hours. You could binge-watch the entire first season of Afterlife instead of watching this show. That’s a show about a man who wants to kill himself cause his wife dies of cancer and it’s still more fun than this. Spoiler alert, season two is on the way so in the end he obviously didn’t kill himself. Just like Jeffrey Epstein. Shut up. I know he’s your friend but I don’t care.
Seriously, most films are awful. Lazy. Remakes, sequels. I’ve heard a rumor there might be a sequel to Sophie’s Choice. I mean, that would just be Meryl just going, “Well, it’s gotta be this one then.” All the best actors have jumped to Netflix, HBO. And the actors who just do Hollywood movies now do fantasy-adventure nonsense. They wear masks and capes and really tight costumes. Their job isn’t acting anymore. It’s going to the gym twice a day and taking steroids, really. Have we got an award for most ripped junky? No point, we’d know who’d win that.
Martin Scorsese made the news for his controversial comments about the Marvel franchise. He said they’re not real cinema and they remind him about theme parks. I agree. Although I don’t know what he’s doing hanging around theme parks. He’s not big enough to go on the rides. He’s tiny. The Irishman was amazing. It was amazing. It was great. Long, but amazing. It wasn’t the only epic movie. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, nearly three hours long. Leonardo DiCaprio attended the premiere and by the end his date was too old for him. Even Prince Andrew was like, “Come on, Leo, mate. You’re nearly 50-something.”
The world got to see James Corden as a fat p****. He was also in the movie Cats. No one saw that movie. And the reviews, shocking. I saw one that said, “This is the worst thing to happen to cats since dogs.” But Dame Judi Dench defended the film saying it was the film she was born to play because she loves nothing better than plunking herself down on the carpet, lifting her leg and licking her [expletive]. (Coughs) Hairball. She’s old-school.
It’s the last time, who cares? Apple roared into the TV game with The Morning Show, a superb drama about the importance of dignity and doing the right thing, made by a company that runs sweatshops in China. Well, you say you’re woke but the companies you work for in China — unbelievable. Apple, Amazon, Disney. If ISIS started a streaming service you’d call your agent, wouldn’t you?
So if you do win an award tonight, don’t use it as a platform to make a political speech. You’re in no position to lecture the public about anything. You know nothing about the real world. Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg.
So if you win, come up, accept your little award, thank your agent, and your God and f*** off, OK? It’s already three hours long. Right, let’s do the first award.</blockquote>

Ricky Gervais Blasts Hollywood With Jokes He Would Have Told If He Hosted The Oscars

This time of year, it’s not uncommon for my fellow conservative commentators to discuss the growing disparity between the Oscars and the average moviegoer. They bring up the 2016 winner of Best Picture, “Moonlight,” citing the film’s low box office as a clear example of this division. The Academy chose to proclaim a film that “nobody saw” as the best of the year. Many see this as the latest in a Hollywood trend, referencing the poor financial performance of recent Best Picture winners as proof of the Academy growing further and further out of touch.
As often happens in the conservative assessment of the film industry, the “good old days” are invoked; a time when the most popular movies were often given the coveted Oscar statuette. Past winners like “Ben-Hur” and “The Godfather” were the most successful films of their respective years and 1939’s “Gone with the Wind” is the most successful film of all time (when one takes inflation into account). So when did the Academy begin to stand in opposition to the financial will of the masses?
I think that this actually is the wrong question to ask. Rather than wonder when the opinion-makers stopped rewarding popular films, perhaps we should instead ask when people stopped being interested in better movies?
Yes, yes, I know that such a question will be viewed as somehow elitist, but that doesn’t mean it’s unwarranted. A cursory look at the history of American filmgoing will yield some unexpected results. Take the year 1979. In a year featuring a Bond movie and numerous science fiction outings, one might expect the highest grossing film of the year to be a big budget fantasy or an entry in a beloved franchise.
But no, the most successful film was that year’s Best Picture winner, “Kramer vs. Kramer,” a kitchen sink drama about a divorced father trying to take care of his son. With “Marriage Story” currently nominated for a number of Oscars, it’s not hard to picture a film like this being a modern Academy Awards contender. So that is fairly constant. But does anybody really think that a film like this would even crack the top ten of 2019, let alone be number one?
<div id="attachment_86126" style="width: 2045px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-86126" class="wp-image-86126 size-full" src="https://editorial.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/8F7CB3BA-5B06-4F9D-8AC5-FF083715EBD6.jpeg" alt="Actor Dustin Hoffman and actress Meryl Streep smile happily after winning their respective Oscars at the 52nd Annual Academy Awards presentations at the Music Center 4/14. Hoffman won his Oscar for the Best Actor Award for his role in &quot;Kramer vs. Kramer,&quot; and Streep won her Oscar for Best Actress In a Supporting Role for her role in &quot;Kramer vs.Kramer.&quot;" width="2035" height="1145" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/02/8F7CB3BA-5B06-4F9D-8AC5-FF083715EBD6.jpeg 2035w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/02/8F7CB3BA-5B06-4F9D-8AC5-FF083715EBD6-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/02/8F7CB3BA-5B06-4F9D-8AC5-FF083715EBD6-1024x576.jpeg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/02/8F7CB3BA-5B06-4F9D-8AC5-FF083715EBD6-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/02/8F7CB3BA-5B06-4F9D-8AC5-FF083715EBD6-1536x864.jpeg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 2035px) 100vw, 2035px" />Photo: Bettmann / Contributor via Getty Images</div>
In 1988, Best Picture went to “Rain Man,” the story of a selfish young man getting to know his mentally disabled brother. It was also the highest grossing film of that year. Another story about an interpersonal relationship, it’s pretty unlikely that a film like this could top the box office these days.
And if we want to go all the way back to the 1940s, 1946 Best Picture winner “The Best Years of Our Lives” was a box office smash, despite it being a three-hour long film about the emotional and financial struggles of World War II veterans. This is hardly the stuff of modern box office dreams, but movies like this are still nominated for Academy Awards.
So what changed? Why is there such a chasm between the Academy and audiences?
The answer, I think, lies less with anything overtly ideological and more with changing technology. As films became more ambitious with their special effects – with movies like “Star Wars” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark” leading the charge – spectacle became big business. And few movies were more spectacular than fantasies. Certainly, period epics like “Lawrence of Arabia,” “Braveheart,” or the aforementioned “Gone with the Wind” were popular, but they were rooted firmly in reality.
With directors like Robert Zemeckis, Steven Spielberg, and James Cameron pushing the boundaries of digital compositing in the 1980s, other worlds could be created and material previously considered too ambitious could finally be mined for box office gold. Richard Donner’s 1979 “Superman” was pitched with the tagline “You will believe a man can fly.” But with digital technology, not only could men fly, but aliens could attack, dinosaurs could return, and Hobbits could trek into Mordor.
<div id="attachment_86124" style="width: 2039px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-86124" class="size-full wp-image-86124" src="https://editorial.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/E1AB679B-E75C-4917-B049-D3E0815610D7.jpeg" alt="Best Supporting Actor nominee Ian McKellen (L) as Gandalf with Elijah Wood as Frodo." width="2029" height="1141" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/02/E1AB679B-E75C-4917-B049-D3E0815610D7.jpeg 2029w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/02/E1AB679B-E75C-4917-B049-D3E0815610D7-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/02/E1AB679B-E75C-4917-B049-D3E0815610D7-1024x576.jpeg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/02/E1AB679B-E75C-4917-B049-D3E0815610D7-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/02/E1AB679B-E75C-4917-B049-D3E0815610D7-1536x864.jpeg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 2029px) 100vw, 2029px" />Photo by New Line/WireImage via Getty Images</div>
As budgets inflated, it became important for studios to broaden their audiences as much as possible. Bringing in a mere $100 million would no longer suffice. Movies were greenlit with a wider audience in mind, trying to capture a younger demographic, so vital to the box office success of a film. And, just as a little boy will clap his hands and shout “Again, again!,” so younger audiences demanded more, prompting sequel after sequel to be produced.
Before long, remakes, kids movies, and franchise films dominated the box office, until the more adult fare of years past became total non-starters. What once were financially successful would now be touted as “prestige pictures,” made for an older audience looking for some kind of break from the barrage of CGI carnage occupying the multiplexes.
Occasionally, there will be some overlap, as when the Academy rewarded the third “Lord of the Rings” film with Best Picture, Director, and a slew of other awards. And sometimes an Oscar-caliber film will be embraced by a wide audience, such as “American Sniper,” “Hidden Figures,” or “Moneyball.” But, for the most part, the Oscars are doing what they’ve always done: recognize movies for grown-ups that feature thematically and artistically challenging components.
What is “Green Book” if not the latest example of a feel-good interracial buddy film, just like previous winners “In the Heat of the Night” and “Driving Miss Daisy”? “Moonlight” is in the tradition of intimate character portraits like “Marty” and “The Lost Weekend.” And if the current frontrunner “1917” wins Best Picture, it will take its place alongside past war movies like “The English Patient,” “Patton,” “The Bridge on the River Kwai,” and even 1930’s “All Quiet on the Western Front,” a World War I story from the German perspective.
So, as you regard this year’s Academy Awards and lament its dearth of box office hits, please consider that this isn’t a simple case of left-leaning Hollywood removing itself further and further from the mainstream. The current divide between the Academy and the average moviegoer has been steadily growing since the 1980s, the dominance of special effects, and the courting of a younger – less discerning – audience.

Oscars.

SMITH: Maybe The Oscars Aren’t As ‘Out Of Touch’ As People Think

The Academy Awards will once again be going hostless this year, a trend that started when a band of online woke scolds launched a successful cancel campaign to force comedian Kevin Hart into stepping down from hosting after several old jokes resurfaced that offended the LGBT community. Comedian Billy Crystal, who hosted several shows in the 1990s and early 2000s, is none too happy with the new tradition.
Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Thursday, Crystal simultaneously blasted the Academy while swiping at Trump&#8217;s impeachment, comparing the hostless ceremony to a &#8220;trial without witnesses.&#8221;
&#8220;Moves faster, but not quite the result that you want,&#8221; Crystal told Kimmel, as reported by <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/billy-crystal-host-less-oscars">Fox News</a>.
Crystal said that an Oscars host has a certain trust with the audience and that they are always on hand to carry the night if something goes awry, such as when the wrong Best Picture winner was announced in 2017.
&#8220;I always loved being out there. I loved the, I guess, the trust, you know, that the movie academy had in me to get out there, and I felt like it was a great honor to do it. And I think that when you have a show that&#8217;s as long as it is, things are going to happen,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And I think the problem with the no-host thing, perhaps, is that there&#8217;s not somebody out there to capitalize on that moment, like you do when the wrong best picture was nominated.&#8221;
In case an incident were to happen, Crystal advised the Academy to have the&#8221;right people out there&#8221; to ease the situation. Jimmy Kimmel, however, said that he hopes the night crashes and burns so that a host will be invited back.
&#8220;I hope it&#8217;s a disaster. We have to stick together, you know what I mean? These jobs are very few,&#8221; said Kimmel.
Kevin Hart had been slated to host the 2019 Oscars but stepped down within 48 hours of accepting the gig after the Academy demanded he apologize for his past jokes.
“I’m not going to continue to go back and tap into the days of old when I moved on, and I’m in a completely different space in my life,” Hart said in a video on Instagram at the time. “I’m going to be me; I’m going to stand my ground.”
Hours later, Hart stepped down from his dream of hosting the Oscars and apologized to the LGBTQ community for his “insensitive words.”
“I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year’s Oscars … this is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists,” he wrote on Twitter. “I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past.”
Speaking with Men&#8217;s Health earlier this week, Hart expressed regret with how he handled the situation, saying he had acted immaturely.
“With the whole Oscars thing, there was a big gap between what I thought the problem was versus what the problem really was,” <a href="https://www.menshealth.com/trending-news/a30469053/kevin-hart-car-accident-recovery-interview/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hart told the magazine</a>. “I got 10 years where I made sure not to joke or play in the way that I did back then because it was a problem. I don’t care if you’re gay or not gay. I’m a people person. I’m going to love you regardless. It wasn’t until close friends like Wanda Sykes, Lee Daniels, and Ellen talked to me and explained what they didn’t hear me say that I understood. Then I was like, ‘Oh, s*** — I did f*** up.’”

The Paley Honors: A Gala Tribute To LGBTQ+

The Oscars Have No Host Again. Billy Crystal Sounds Off: ‘Like A Trial Without Witnesses’

After bravely bearing the cruel slings and arrows of the woke scolds that launched a cancel campaign against him for old jokes that offended some members of the LGBT community, Kevin Hart has now apologized for how he handled the situation, which culminated in him <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/kevin-hart-steps-down-from-oscar-hosting-gig-after-past-staments" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">stepping down as host </a>of the Academy Awards in 2019.
Though Hart recently expressed regret for being immature at the time in the Netflix documentary “Kevin Hart: Don’t F**k This Up,” he doubled-down on that sentiment in an interview with Men&#8217;s Health.
“With the whole Oscars thing, there was a big gap between what I thought the problem was versus what the problem really was,” <a href="https://www.menshealth.com/trending-news/a30469053/kevin-hart-car-accident-recovery-interview/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hart told the magazine</a>. &#8220;I got 10 years where I made sure not to joke or play in the way that I did back then because it was a problem. I don’t care if you’re gay or not gay. I’m a people person. I’m going to love you regardless.”
Hart, however, feels that he should have become an ally to the LGBT community by speaking up about violence.
“It wasn’t until close friends like Wanda Sykes, Lee Daniels, and Ellen talked to me and explained what they didn’t hear me say that I understood. Then I was like, ‘Oh, s*** — I did f*** up.’”
Kevin Hart had been slated to host the 2019 Oscars but stepped down within 48 hours of accepting the gig after the Academy demanded he apologize for his past jokes.
“I’m not going to continue to go back and tap into the days of old when I moved on, and I’m in a completely different space in my life,” Hart said in a video on Instagram at the time. “I’m going to be me; I’m going to stand my ground.”
Hours later, Hart stepped down from his dream of hosting the Oscars and apologized to the LGBTQ community for his “insensitive words.”
“I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year’s Oscars … this is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists,” he wrote on Twitter. “I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past.”
The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kevin-hart-regrets-how-he-handled-oscars-controversy-i-was-immature">Netflix documentary </a>explored how the comedian disregarded the advice of his publicists and other members of his team at the time, leading him to eventually conclude that he was acting “immature.”
“What I thought was going to blow over ended up becoming a bigger mess than I expected,” Hart says in the documentary.
“You need to learn how to stop and think,” Hart’s publicist tells a team member in the documentary. “He’s not used to being the person that’s not loved and cherished. He needs to just shut up and put his head down for the next few weeks. &#8230; What he needs to remember is he’s feeding 50-60 people. When he takes a sh***er, everybody takes a sh***er and that’s a big issue now.”
Nine days after his stepping down, Hart then told members of his staff at an emergency meeting that he had no desire to keep addressing the controversy, fearing he would be “making it okay to go backward.” Looking back, Hart now feels that he “missed an opportunity.”
“I missed an opportunity to say simply that I don’t condone any type of violence in any way, shape, or form to anyone for being who they are,” Hart now says. “I f***ed up. &#8230; Instead, I said, ‘I addressed it.’ I said, ‘I apologized.’ I said, ‘I talked about this already.’ I was just immature.”

2020 Winter TCA Tour &#8211; Day 3

Kevin Hart Caves, Apologizes Over Oscars Controversy: ‘I Did F*** Up’

Homosexuality

Kevin Hart

LGBT

This year&#8217;s brutally honest Oscar voter better hope that <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/brutally-honest-oscar-ballot-irishman-was-boring-tarantino-amazing-1275576/item/2020-brutally-honest-ballot-best-picture-1276072?fbclid=IwAR006Lpnrx3TNMPxHeKO4CZF4j7sDU_jdNLJW4BrFXx6-zKJZMxQRR73OhA">The Hollywood Reporter</a> (THR) does not leak her identity, because she has some rather un-woke opinions about American directors and foreign films being nominated for Best Picture.
When asked about who she voted for Best Director, the brutally honest Oscar voter hailed Quentin Tarantino, not only for his wonderful work on &#8220;Once Upon A Time In Hollywood,&#8221; but also because he&#8217;s an American.
<blockquote>I can&#8217;t vote for Marty [Scorsese, of The Irishman] — nobody wants to say it, but it&#8217;s just not that good. Todd Phillips did an incredible job on Joker, as did Bong Joon Ho on Parasite, but not the best. I liked 1917 and Sam Mendes&#8217; direction, but I thought Quentin did a great job, and I want an American director to win. The Oscars is an American thing; English things win BAFTAs and the French vote for the French, and Quentin Tarantino should be honored for a great American movie.</blockquote>
When it came to the movie &#8220;Parasite&#8221; being nominated for Best Picture — a foreign film from South Korea — the voter brutally said, &#8220;&#8216;Parasite&#8217; is beautifully done, but it didn&#8217;t hold up the second time, and I don&#8217;t think foreign films should be nominated with the regular films.&#8221;
Some on Twitter noted that the brutally honest Oscar voter only highlighted what they have been saying all along: The Academy is filled with too many white people, though it should be noted that the woman&#8217;s race was not revealed by The Hollywood Reporter.
&#8220;The Hollywood Reporter shared &#8216;Brutally Honest Oscar Ballot&#8217; in which an old white woman from the Academy anonymously gives her thoughts on the Oscar&#8216;s ballot this year and proves that the issues that Academy members were accused of are very real,&#8221; <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=Brutally%20honest%20oscar&amp;src=typed_query">said one</a> Twitter user. 
&#8220;Whoever this actor is should not be a voting member of the Academy. She gets so many facts wrong and clearly favours American actors and filmmakers for ridiculous reasons. I’m afraid the majority of voters think the same exact way she does, though,&#8221; <a href="https://twitter.com/tonybaltierra/status/1225111566367936512?s=20">said another</a> user.
&#8220;This incredibly racist woman is in the Academy &#8230; why did this one get published?&#8221; said another.
The Academy Awards took another beating on social media this year for nominating only male directors and only one actor of color – Cynthia Erivo for &#8220;Harriet.&#8221; Author Stephen King, himself a member of the Academy, recently argued that the whole voting system is rigged in &#8220;favor of the white folks.&#8221;
“Has there been progress in the film community? Yes, some,” <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/stephen-king-goes-ultra-woke-after-sjws-scold-him-for-anti-diversity-comments-oscars-rigged-in-favor-of-the-white-folks">said King</a>. “I’m old enough to remember when there were only a handful of African-American directors and about the only female director in Hollywood was Ida Lupino, who made hard-edged noir B-pictures in the 1950s and later worked in television. Her directing work was never nominated for an Oscar or an Emmy.”
“My overall attitude that, as with justice, judgments of creative excellence should be blind,” he continued. “But that would be the case in a perfect world, one where the game isn’t rigged in favor of the white folks. Creative excellence comes from every walk, color, creed, gender and sexual orientation, and it’s made richer and bolder and more exciting by diversity, but it’s defined by being excellent. Judging anyone’s work by any other standard is insulting and — worse — it undermines those hard-won moments when excellence from a diverse source is rewarded (against, it seems, all the odds) by leaving such recognition vulnerable to being dismissed as politically correct.”

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Oscars

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WATCH: Trump Laments Oscars Giving ‘A Movie From South Korea’ Best Picture. Internet Responds.

Zack Gottsagen’s Mother Defends Shia LaBeouf After Oscars ‘Controversy’

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