<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/comedy">Comedian</a> Jon Lovitz said the overt biases of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/television">late-night show</a> hosts are becoming tedious.
The former “SNL” cast member discussed his feelings about hosts like <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/stephen-colbert">Stephen Colbert</a> and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/seth-meyers">Seth Meyers</a> constantly pushing a leftist political agenda on their shows. While Lovitz agreed that they were free to talk about anything they wanted, he also said these shows have become more political and less entertaining over the years.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t like it. I don&#8217;t like it,&#8221; Lovitz told Fox News Digital during a recent <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/jon-lovitz-tears-colbert-kimmel-pushing-political-agenda-late-night">interview</a>. &#8220;They were comedy shows. And now, except for Jimmy Fallon, they&#8217;ve all become very political. And for me, it&#8217;s just- it&#8217;s too much.&#8221; 
He continued, “I mean, Johnny Carson would, you know, he would do two or three jokes about whoever was president then or what was going on then and that was it. But they were entertainment shows.&#8221;
&#8220;I know all those guys. And they&#8217;re very nice guys. Very talented. I know Seth. I know Stephen Colbert. I know Jimmy Kimmel. I think they&#8217;re funny, you know,&#8221; Lovitz said. &#8220;But when they started doing the political stuff, like, so one-sided, it&#8217;s like- and that&#8217;s all it is, the whole thing, it&#8217;s just like, that&#8217;s not the shows that I used to go on. You know, it was ‘The Tonight Show’ and David Letterman.&#8221;
Lovitz discussed how much the format of late-night shows has changed over the years, and in his opinion, it’s not for the better.
&#8220;It&#8217;s their show. They can do whatever they want. But you&#8217;re asking me, do I like it, and I&#8217;m like, no,&#8221; the 66-year-old comedian said. &#8220;If I want the news, I&#8217;ll watch the news. I&#8217;m not watching those shows. They&#8217;re late night entertainment, but it&#8217;s all political, except for Jimmy Fallon. And they keep getting mad at Jimmy. &#8216;Why don&#8217;t you go into politics?&#8217; Because he&#8217;s doing a silly, like, escapism entertainment show.&#8221;
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Lovitz said most late-night hosts have sacrificed the humor and fun for partisanship.
&#8220;They just hammer it to death… they&#8217;ve become, &#8216;Here&#8217;s my political agenda.&#8217; They&#8217;re very open about it,&#8221; he went on. &#8220;And I&#8217;m like, well, all right. I have no say in that. It&#8217;s their show, you know. But I don&#8217;t particularly- I don&#8217;t like that they&#8217;ve become that because where&#8217;s the comedians and the stand-up and the bits, you know, like Letterman. It was comedy.&#8221;

Jon Lovitz

Jon Lovitz Trashes Late Night Hosts For Rampant Political Agendas: ‘They Hammer It To Death’

Jon Lovitz Trashes Late Night Hosts For Rampant Political Agendas: 'They Hammer It To Death'

Celebrities

comedian

Jimmy Fallon

Jimmy Kimmel

Seth Meyers

Stephen Colbert

Television

U.S.

Before I begin today’s show, I would just like to congratulate the Writers Guild of America for securing an excellent new contract. Now that the writers’ strike is over, I’d like to welcome my imaginary team of imaginary writers back to my imaginary writers’ room. To be honest, without my writers, I’ve felt as flat and uninspired as Stephen Colbert with his writers. So I’d also like to congratulate Stephen on having his 19 real writers back so they can come up with such wild and original ideas as comparing Donald Trump to Hitler and herpes, because if that’s not comedy, then comedy is comedy, which is just confusing.
But it’s great to have my imaginary writers back so let me introduce them. There’s Lola Vavoom, the shapely and ambitious creative who writes all my female sword-fighting scenes. Between such bouts of steely realism, she enjoys wiggling her way to the snack table in her spandex leggings to fetch me a cup of coffee so she can linger behind me while I drink it, giving me a gentle shoulder massage and explaining once again that what my wife doesn’t know won’t hurt her. Which isn’t strictly true, since my wife doesn’t know how to use the chair-lift and keeps falling downstairs. But hey, this is my imagination so I get whatever imaginary writers I want.
There’s also Vivek Swamymommy from India who can’t speak English but at least he has darkish skin so we can pretend to have filled our hiring quota for black writers without actually hiring any black writers. Thus we strike a blow against the dreadful systemic American racism revealed by the fact that George Floyd died of a fentanyl overdose while resisting arrest — which was a terrible act of racist police brutality because this is all imaginary.
And finally, there’s Joe Stern, the neurotic little Jewish guy who completely rewrites all our episodes so no one finds out our women and minority hires have no talent, after which Joe Stern goes home to smoke dope and watch porn all night while posting on X about how social conservatives are evil. Joe Stern is also imaginary, but at least he could be real.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-andrew-klavan-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Andrew Klavan Show</a></h4>
Thanks to the WGA, these dedicated imaginary writers have a great new contract. For instance, the studios have agreed not to create scripts with AI as long as the writers agree to produce repetitive and formulaic stories bizarrely out of keeping with all human experience, values, and aspirations so at least it seems like they were created by AI. There’ll also now be a guaranteed number of writers in each writers’ room to ensure that there’ll be some really lively group conversations while Joe Stern is writing the script. And every writer who creates a streaming series with a large audience will receive a substantial bonus with which she can hire a lawyer to get Steven Avery out of prison so he can rape and kill again.
So now at last, Hollywood writers can get back to the important work of filling our entertainment with that radical spirit of resistance that’s officially approved by every major corporation, government body, intelligence agency and intellectually stagnant university in the country. Once again, you’ll be able to set your children down in front of a television screen and trust that when you come back from smoking reefer in your bedroom, they’ll be suicidally confused about their sexuality. Once again, you’ll be able to go to the movies and see black actors so talented they can almost make you believe they’re oppressed. And once again you’ll be able to watch tough, muscular WASP-faced heroes conquer the monsters of distant galaxies while weirdly voicing the opinions of Joe Stern — who’ll be busy at home smoking dope, watching porn and posting on X.
Yes, all across Los Angeles, real writers are taking off their pajamas and putting on their clean pajamas in order to get back to work creating an imaginary world in which the values and ideas that have destroyed America save America — while here in Nashville, imaginary writers will be creating a real world in which the values and ideas that made America great make America great… again.
Wait — Make America Great Again — that’s good! Guys, write that down!
Andrew Klavan is the host of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-andrew-klavan-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Andrew Klavan Show</a>” at The Daily Wire. He is an award-winning novelist, Hollywood screenwriter, and popular satirist. Klavan is the author of “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/When-Christmas-Comes-Andrew-Klavan/dp/1613162405/ref=pd_bxgy_sccl_2/132-9473875-2662038?pd_rd_w=x29DZ&amp;content-id=amzn1.sym.26a5c67f-1a30-486b-bb90-b523ad38d5a0&amp;pf_rd_p=26a5c67f-1a30-486b-bb90-b523ad38d5a0&amp;pf_rd_r=X7J7YCZYPAH29407AXTY&amp;pd_rd_wg=M65Ef&amp;pd_rd_r=c2bb5bb5-dd27-434d-9ca1-f2098f486a81&amp;pd_rd_i=1613162405&amp;psc=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">When Christmas Comes</a>” and “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Strange-Habit-Mind-Cameron-Mysteries/dp/1613163517/ref=pd_bxgy_sccl_1/132-9473875-2662038?pd_rd_w=lnVGk&amp;content-id=amzn1.sym.26a5c67f-1a30-486b-bb90-b523ad38d5a0&amp;pf_rd_p=26a5c67f-1a30-486b-bb90-b523ad38d5a0&amp;pf_rd_r=13RV0285EXYKN2D57RST&amp;pd_rd_wg=jW34u&amp;pd_rd_r=e0bb3c70-62ea-4448-8be5-a7cf1bba3f5e&amp;pd_rd_i=1613163517&amp;psc=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Strange Habit of Mind,</a>” the first two novels in the USA Today best-selling Cameron Winter Mystery series. The third installment, “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/House-Death-Cameron-Winter-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B0BW1ZTVP9?ref_=ast_author_dp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The House of Love and Death</a>,” releases on October 31, 2023, and is now available for <a href="https://www.amazon.com/House-Death-Cameron-Winter-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B0BW1ZTVP9?ref_=ast_author_dp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pre-order</a>.
Follow Klavan on Twitter: @andrewklavan
This excerpt is taken from the opening satirical monologue of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1150-pearl-davis-has-a-point-about-marriage">The Andrew Klavan Show</a>.”
The views expressed in this satirical article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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Klavan_10-scaled (1)4

Now That The Writer’s Strike Is Over, I Can Welcome Back My Imaginary Writers

Hollywood

Movies

Readers Pass

Satire

Five late-night comedy hosts announced plans for a joint podcast, and got a live roast in return.
Comedians Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, and Seth Meyers – whose shows are on a forced sabbatical due to the ongoing writers and actors strike in Hollywood – announced plans for &#8220;Strike Force Five.&#8221; The joint effort is expected to last at least through the remainder of the strike and proceeds will go to support their staffers while they are out of work.
&#8220;MAJOR LIFE UPDATE &#8211; for the remainder of the strike @StephenAtHome, @JimmyFallon, @SethMeyers, @IamJohnOliver &amp; I are joining forces for a new podcast called @StrikeForceFive. Hear the first episode tomorrow 8/30. ALL proceeds (thanks to @Casamigos and @MintMobile) go to support our out of work staffs. Listen now — <a class="css-4rbku5 css-18t94o4 css-901oao css-16my406 r-1cvl2hr r-1loqt21 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0" dir="ltr" role="link" href="https://t.co/qsyo28mYSV" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">https://bit.ly/44tflxq</a> @SpotifyPodcasts,&#8221; Kimmel shared via X. 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
MAJOR LIFE UPDATE &#8211; for the remainder of the strike <a href="https://twitter.com/StephenAtHome?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@StephenAtHome</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/jimmyfallon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JimmyFallon</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/sethmeyers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SethMeyers</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/iamjohnoliver?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@IamJohnOliver</a> &amp; I are joining forces for a new podcast called <a href="https://twitter.com/StrikeForceFive?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@StrikeForceFive</a>. Hear the first episode tomorrow 8/30. ALL proceeds (thanks to <a href="https://twitter.com/Casamigos?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Casamigos</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/Mintmobile?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MintMobile</a>) go to support… <a href="https://t.co/Czyvlpmba2">pic.twitter.com/Czyvlpmba2</a>
&mdash; Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) <a href="https://twitter.com/jimmykimmel/status/1696612559661736081?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 29, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Meyers <a href="https://twitter.com/sethmeyers/status/1696635013687558435" target="_blank" rel="noopener">responded</a> with a joke, saying, &#8220;I had NO idea this was being recorded &#8230;&#8221;
&#8220;Late night unite! Your new favorite podcast Strike Force Five premieres tomorrow with all of our proceeds going to staff and crew affected by the ongoing writers strike. Check it out on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts,&#8221; Fallon added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Late night unite! Your new favorite podcast Strike Force Five premieres tomorrow with all of our proceeds going to staff and crew affected by the ongoing writers strike. Check it out on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. <a href="https://t.co/PQVgLEiftN">pic.twitter.com/PQVgLEiftN</a>
&mdash; Jimmy Fallon (@jimmyfallon) <a href="https://twitter.com/jimmyfallon/status/1696637418454053235?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 29, 2023</a></blockquote>
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But critics weren&#8217;t so sure that anyone really needed them to come back.
&#8220;Five insufferable one-trick ponies doing a podcast to echo each other on Trump and DeSantis and anyone who doesn&#8217;t have a D next to their name. And if you forgot these guys haven&#8217;t been on the air for months, you&#8217;re not alone,&#8221; Joe Concha said in a post on X.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Five insufferable one-trick ponies doing a podcast to echo each other on Trump and DeSantis and anyone who doesn&#39;t have a D next to their name. And if you forgot these guys haven&#39;t been on the air for months, you&#39;re not alone. <a href="https://t.co/RKsHu7RVEX">https://t.co/RKsHu7RVEX</a>
&mdash; Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeConchaTV/status/1696942807829627195?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 30, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Not a lawyer but pretty sure this podcast will violate the Geneva Conventions,&#8221; Grabien media founder Tom Elliott <a href="https://twitter.com/tomselliott/status/1696878030235328809" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
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&#8220;Can&#8217;t wait for the first episode about Trump&#8217;s mugshot and how bad the new strain of covid is,&#8221; @thefirstontv <a href="https://twitter.com/TheFirstonTV/status/1696903174177604080" target="_blank" rel="noopener">added</a>.
&#8220;It is super cringe that they coordinated to all sit in very &#8216;regular person&#8217; rooms, as though they don’t all have home offices that clearly illustrate their wealth and success. Just be you, you d*** phonies,&#8221; Noam Blum <a href="https://twitter.com/neontaster/status/1696867728512995349" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
&#8220;They have banished all the late night hosts to a podcast,&#8221; Ashley St. Clair posted. &#8220;Nature is healing.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
they have banished all the late night hosts to a podcast
nature is healing <a href="https://t.co/t0uw4RUMqS">https://t.co/t0uw4RUMqS</a>
&mdash; Ashley St. Clair (@stclairashley) <a href="https://twitter.com/stclairashley/status/1696710363406872946?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 30, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Late night group therapy for libs actually becomes group therapy for libs,&#8221; Stephen L. Miller <a href="https://twitter.com/redsteeze/status/1696636706961924120" target="_blank" rel="noopener">replied</a>.
&#8220;Breaking Points&#8221; cohost Saagar Enjeti took a slightly different approach, <a href="https://twitter.com/esaagar/status/1696629378992460262" target="_blank" rel="noopener">saying</a>, &#8220;I am begging studio execs to cave so we can end this abomination.&#8221;

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon – Season 4

Late-Night Hosts Team Up To Pitch A Podcast, And All They Get Is A Live Roast

John Oliver

The late-night silence is deafening.
On May 2nd, the Writers Guild of America went on strike seeking better wages, higher residual rates, and protections against the looming threat of Artificial Intelligence, among related demands.
That meant screenwriters closed their laptops, taking the jokes out of the corporate comedians’ mouths. No more wisecracks Colbert, Kimmel, Oliver, or Maher. The late-night landscape went dark, and the lights won’t be back on anytime soon.
Will audiences greet their return like a favorite show’s new seasons? Or, will we see a faltering landscape crumble, plagued by incessant partisanship, relentless clapter, and a business model in obvious decline?
The latter may be more likely, even if the format continues in some capacity when the strike finally ends.
<div id="attachment_595329" style="width: 876px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-595329" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-595329" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-1238883487-866x576.jpg" alt="DALLAS, TX - FEBRUARY 22: Fox News host Greg Gutfeld speaks during Fox News Channel's &quot;Gutfeld!&quot; Live In Dallas at Gilley's Dallas on February 22, 2022 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Omar Vega/Getty Images)" width="866" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-1238883487-866x576.jpg 866w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-1238883487-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-1238883487-768x511.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-1238883487-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-1238883487-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-1238883487-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-1238883487-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 866px) 100vw, 866px" />Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images</div>
We’re certainly not seeing any desperate op-eds demanding the swift return of these late-night propagandists. Even the Left-leaning <a href="https://movieweb.com/when-will-late-night-tv-shows-come-back/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MovieWeb</a> perused the late-night-free environment and wondered if the public even missed it.
Had the work stoppage lasted a few weeks or even months we’d expect the show to go on, more or less as usual. The hosts might forgo any summer vacation plans to resume their high-paying gigs and reconnect with their dwindling fan base.
Except the WGA and the studio representatives remain far apart and you’d be hard-pressed to find an industry observer who sees a resolution lurking around the corner.
The news cycle moves on without their pre-packaged monologues, leaving folks like John Oliver wishing he could weigh in on the latest Trump indictment news and, conversely, ignore stories with the name “Hunter” attached. 
No one expected a swift resolution to the writers’ strike, and that was before the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) joined them on the picket lines earlier this month. That means even if the late-night shows were open for business, they’d have no one to grace their colorful couches.
The loss of late-night comedy struck a body blow against the mainstream media. Journalists loved regurgitating whatever Stephen Colbert said on a given night, assuming it tarred and/or feathered GOP favorites like Donald Trump or former Fox News superstar Tucker Carlson.
Reporters even assembled round-up stories on the latest late-night antics, purposely leaving out the one show that’s still cranking out new episodes — that’s “Gutfeld!,” the Fox News hit that recently abandoned the late shift for an earlier, 10 p.m. EST time slot.
<div id="attachment_595327" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-595327" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-595327" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-1372231822-1-864x576.jpg" alt="DALLAS, TX - FEBRUARY 22: Fox News host Greg Gutfeld speaks during Fox News Channel's &quot;Gutfeld!&quot; Live In Dallas at Gilley's Dallas on February 22, 2022 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Omar Vega/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-1372231822-1-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-1372231822-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-1372231822-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-1372231822-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-1372231822-1-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-1372231822-1-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-1372231822-1-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Omar Vega/Getty Images</div>
Another sign of the format’s eventual doom?
Late-night TV was in trouble before the dueling strikes. The Left-leaning Axios said the format was “<a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/04/28/late-night-tv-corden-ratings-decline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rapidly declining</a>” back in April, noting the recent loss of several key players.
Low ratings likely sunk TBS mainstay “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee.” Trevor Noah up and left the basement-rated “Daily Show” over at Comedy Central, leaving the cable channel to uncork a rotating host schedule without finding the South African comic’s successor.
That search, like the show itself, is presumably on hold.
“Late Late Show” star James Corden also called it quits, abandoning a format that was setting <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/05/01/cbs-was-reportedly-losing-millions-on-james-cordens-late-night-show/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CBS back millions</a>. The network didn’t bother to find his replacement, opting to air a game show reboot in his place.
Late-night revenues were similarly down in recent months.
Axios reported ad revenue for the top six shows shrank more than 50% since 2014, and more than 60% from its highest point in 2016 (a heated presidential campaign year).
Does that sound like a healthy TV landscape?
Audiences are fickle. They may have watched their favorite late-night comedian for years, but now they’re left to find new bedtime rituals. That could mean social media surfing or sampling the various YouTube creators cranking out provocative, timely satire.
Comedians like liberal-leaning Jimmy Dore happily tear into President Joe Biden as well as Trump. Right-leaning comics, meanwhile, eviscerate the woke mind virus, among other progressive targets.
Any random sketch by Ryan Long is as funny, if not funnier, than whatever Jimmy Fallon uncorked from his “Tonight Show” perch.
There’s no lack of creative minds filling the gaps left behind by late-night taking an extended knee. And audiences can watch them at any time of the day if they crave late-night-style yuks.
The host of HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” is still talking, but he’s doing it via his weekly “Club Random” podcast. The show eschews partisan banter for conversations across the ideological divide. Here’s betting he’s having more fun talking to the likes of Jordan Peterson than pretending “Real Time” guests like Rob Reiner make sense.
Some Jimmy Kimmel scribes have hit the road, packaging themselves together as a late-night stand-up tour to make ends meet during the strike. 
Kimmel himself is keeping a low profile this summer, except when he’s the target <a href="https://twitter.com/jimmykimmel/status/1673832917825626112" target="_blank" rel="noopener">of Twitter’s Community Notes fact-checking squad.</a> Colbert is mostly quiet on Twitter, too. It’s almost like his comic shtick is a job and he doesn’t feel compelled to weigh in on the latest headlines if there’s no paycheck attached.
Seth Meyers’ Twitter feed is similarly subdued.
Even late-night stalwarts seemed resigned to the new reality facing them when the strike finally ends.
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of <a href="http://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News&#8217; Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://twitter.com/HollywoodInToto?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@HollywoodInToto</a>. 
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

New York City scenes

As Late-Night TV Goes Dark, Fans Wonder If The Format Will Ever Come Back

Greg Gutfeld

Actor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ill-never-do-that-again-nicolas-cage-admits-he-ate-a-real-cockroach-on-film" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nicolas Cage&#8217;s</a> recently revealed &#8220;earliest memory&#8221; inspired several follow-up questions from comedian and &#8220;The Late Show&#8221; host Stephen Colbert.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nicolas-cage-did-a-reddit-ama-here-are-the-weirdest-questions-and-answers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cage</a>, who made an appearance on the show to promote his vampire-themed horror comedy &#8220;Renfield,&#8221; participated in the &#8220;Colbert Questionert&#8221; — during which he fielded a series of random questions from the host.
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Nicolas Cage Takes The Colbert Questionert" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cyXr1vrT8G0?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Things took a turn when Colbert asked the &#8220;Leaving Las Vegas&#8221; star to recall his earliest memory, however, and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/aaron-rodgers-shows-up-for-training-camp-dressed-as-nic-cage-from-con-air" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cage</a> suggested that he might remember something that happened before he was even born.
&#8220;Let me think. Listen, I know this sounds really far out, and I don&#8217;t know if it&#8217;s real or not, but sometimes I think I can go all the way back to in utero and feeling like I could see faces in the dark or something,&#8221; <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/24-year-old-rust-armorer-once-made-nicolas-cage-curse-storm-off-set-after-firing-gun-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cage</a> replied. &#8220;I know that sounds powerfully abstract, but that somehow seems like it maybe happened.&#8221;
Colbert responded with a follow-up question, asking the Oscar winner whether he thought he had seen faces because there may have been &#8220;other people in there&#8221; at the time — or whether he believed that he had been able to imagine or &#8220;conjure&#8221; faces even before he was born.
&#8220;Now that I am no longer in utero, I would have to imagine it was perhaps vocal vibrations resonating through to me at that stage,&#8221; Cage replied. &#8220;That&#8217;s going way back. I don&#8217;t know. That comes to mind &#8230; I don&#8217;t even know if I remember being in utero, but that thought has crossed my mind.&#8221;
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Cage answered a number of other questions presented by the host — including his top five favorite movies that he had starred in: &#8220;Pig,&#8221; &#8220;Mandy,&#8221; &#8220;Bringing Out the Dead,&#8221; &#8220;Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans,&#8221; and &#8220;Joe.&#8221;
“There you go. I go &#8216;Face/Off,&#8217; but that&#8217;s okay,&#8221; Colbert joked.
&#8220;Oh, I like that one a lot! I love &#8216;Face/Off,’” Cage agreed, adding, &#8220;You know, what was interesting about &#8216;Face/Off&#8217; — and I could&#8217;ve mentioned &#8216;Vampire&#8217;s Kiss.&#8217; &#8216;Vampire&#8217;s Kiss&#8217; was a little movie I made where I was able to explore my more abstract dreams with film performance. I was sadly playing a character who was losing his mind that he was beginning to think he was the vampire from the original Nosferatu movie. And when you&#8217;re playing a character who&#8217;s losing his mind, he can believe he&#8217;s Nosferatu. So I got to act like a German expressionistic silent movie star.&#8221;
&#8220;And that was cool, these facial expressions and what not. But &#8216;Face/Off&#8217; was a big studio movie that I made at Paramount and I was able to use what I learned from this little &#8216;Vampire&#8217;s Kiss&#8217; movie and put it in this giant movie and it worked. I was like, &#8216;People really dig this,’” Cage concluded.

Universal Pictures’ “Renfield” New York Premiere

‘I Know This Sounds Really Far Out’: Nicolas Cage’s ‘First Memory’ Has Stephen Colbert Asking Questions

Nicolas Cage's 'First Memory' Has Stephen Colbert Asking Questions

babies

Nicolas Cage

The late night shows hosted by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jimmy-kimmel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jimmy Kimmel</a>, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/stephen-colbert" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stephen Colbert</a>, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jimmy-fallon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jimmy Fallon</a>, and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/seth-meyers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Seth Meyers</a> will cease production on Tuesday as a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/labor-unions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">union</a> of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/hollywood" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hollywood</a> screenwriters initiates a strike.
Members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) <a href="https://www.wgacontract2023.org/updates/strike-authorization-vote-results" target="_blank" rel="noopener">voted</a> overwhelmingly earlier this year to authorize a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/screenwriter-strike-could-grind-hollywood-to-a-halt-this-week-heres-which-shows-could-be-hit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">strike</a> if the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), a trade association that represents more than 350 studios, did not approve a new <a href="https://www.wgacontract2023.org/the-campaign/pattern-of-demands" target="_blank" rel="noopener">contract</a> with increased minimum compensation and larger contributions to pension and health plans. Union members are <a href="https://www.wgacontract2023.org/strike/strike-rules" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prohibited</a> from working on their shows as of Tuesday.
“Though our negotiating committee began this process intent on making a fair deal, the studios’ responses have been wholly insufficient given the existential crisis writers are facing,” WGA <a href="https://twitter.com/WGAWest/status/1653242480106815491" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on social media, noting that six weeks of deliberations with firms such as Netflix, Amazon, Sony, and Disney under the AMPTP umbrella ultimately failed to produce a new contract.
Colbert was scheduled to host Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Chita Rivera on Tuesday, while celebrities such as Chris Hayes and Michael J. Fox were scheduled to appear later in the week, according to a <a href="https://deadline.com/2023/05/writers-strike-late-night-shows-to-shut-down-immediately-1235352054/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from Deadline. Fallon was supposed to welcome Ken Jeong, Jennifer Lopez, and JJ Watt this week, while Kimmel was slated to host Dr. Phil and Ricky Gervais. The shows are instead expected to air reruns on Tuesday.
Production for shows such as “Real Time With Bill Maher,” “Saturday Night Live,” and “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” is also expected to cease this week, according to a WGA <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2023-04-20/writers-guild-warns-analysts-investors-may-2-strike-means-no-late-night-shows-delay-fall-season" target="_blank" rel="noopener">memo</a> recently obtained by The Los Angeles Times. The document noted that production delays could inhibit the ability of Disney, Paramount Global, and Comcast NBCUniversal to produce episodes for the fall network television season, while streaming platforms carrying broadcast shows would likewise be impacted.
Meyers said on his Monday show that he supports the strike and wants his writers to receive higher pay.
“No one is entitled to a job in show business. But for those people who have a job, they are entitled to fair compensation,” he said, as recorded by Deadline. “They are entitled to make a living. I think it’s a very reasonable demand that’s being set out by the Guild. And I support those demands.”
Kimmel and Colbert were impacted by a similar strike between 2007 and 2008, when WGA members picketed for three months as a result of failed contract negotiations, causing production delays and shortened seasons for multiple studios.
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The current strike occurs as the shift toward streaming contributes to diminished profits in television and cinema. WGA officials also cited the advent of artificial intelligence as a possible mechanism to increase work capacity for screenwriters, a phenomenon which could enable studios to decrease their headcounts and thereby provoked calls from the union to regulate material produced with the technology.
The union previously <a href="https://www.wgacontract2023.org/updates/bulletins/writers-are-not-keeping-up" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that firms have “used the transition to streaming to cut writer pay and separate writing from production, worsening working conditions for series writers at all levels.” The share of writers working at the minimum <a href="https://www.wga.org/news-events/news/connect/10-3-22/animation-writers-have-been-paying-the-price-for-studio-greed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">standards</a> established by the most recent WGA contract has risen substantially in recent years, producing a 23% median compensation decline when adjusted for inflation, even as series budgets increase.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Colbert, Kimmel, Fallon Late Night Shows Immediately Halt Due To Screenwriter Strike

Late Night Shows Immediately Halt Production Due To Screenwriter Strike

Bill Maher

Economy

Labor Unions

Actor Woody Harrelson confirmed that there was &#8220;some veracity&#8221; to fellow actor and friend <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/topic/matthew-mcconaughey/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Matthew McConaughey&#8217;s</a> claim that the two could be half-brothers — possibly sharing the same father – during a Tuesday interview.
Harrelson appeared on Tuesday&#8217;s broadcast of &#8220;The Late Show with Stephen Colbert&#8221; and he told the host that McConaughey&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/matthew-mcconaughey-says-woody-harrelson-might-be-his-biological-brother-theres-possible-receipts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent suggestion</a> might not be too far off the mark.
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Woody Harrelson: Matthew McConaughey Might Be My Brother" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/50RkE4nEzPk?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Colbert mentioned the &#8220;Dallas Buyers Club&#8221; actor&#8217;s comments, prompting a response from Harrelson.
&#8220;Well, I&#8217;ll just say there is some veracity to that thought, because we talked to Ma Mac, Matthew&#8217;s legitimate mother, and she let us know one time — it&#8217;s crazy, we were in Greece. We were watching the U.S. team win the World Cup, and I don&#8217;t know, I mentioned something about regrets,&#8221; Harrelson explained. &#8220;And I said, &#8216;You know, it&#8217;s odd that my father has no regrets.&#8217; And I&#8217;ve known Ma Mac a long time, and she goes, &#8216;I &#8230; knew &#8230; your father.'&#8221;
&#8220;It was the ellipses I found a little troubling or interesting,&#8221; Harrelson continued. &#8220;&#8216;I knew your father.'&#8221;
Harrelson described McConaughey&#8217;s mother&#8217;s pause at that particular point as &#8220;filled with innuendo.&#8221;
&#8220;A pregnant pause, perhaps,&#8221; Colbert joked. Harrelson went on to add to the story — saying that &#8220;Ma Mac,&#8221; as he calls her, had been &#8220;on a sabbatical&#8221; from her relationship with McConaughey&#8217;s father during the time that she might have conceived him. That, coupled with the very suspicious manner in which she claimed she &#8220;knew&#8221; Harrelson&#8217;s father, had given both actors pause.
&#8220;The thing is we want to go and test. But for him, it&#8217;s a much more big deal. I mean, he feels like he&#8217;s losing a father. But I&#8217;m like, &#8216;No you&#8217;re gaining a different father and a brother,&#8221; Harrelson added.
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McConaughey made the revelation just a week earlier while talking with television host Kelly Ripa for her Sirius XM &#8220;Let&#8217;s Talk Off-Camera&#8221; podcast, adding that the furor surrounding their possible relationship was just an extension of their friendship.
&#8220;You know, where I start and where he ends, and where he starts and I end, has always been like a murky line. And that’s part of our bromance, right?&#8221; McConaughey said at the time.

66th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards – Show

Woody Harrelson Throws Gasoline On The Fire: ‘There Is Some Veracity’ To Claims He And Matthew McConaughey Could Be Brothers

Woody Harrelson: 'There Is Some Veracity' To Claims He And Matthew McConaughey Could Be Brothers

Matthew McConaughey

Historically, vice presidents aren&#8217;t all that important as it relates to the day-to-day duties of running the country, but when you have an octogenarian in the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/white-house" target="_blank" rel="noopener">White House</a> who or may not be suffering early stages of dementia, the position tends to have a bit of a larger role in the administration.
So it was a bit concerning when current Vice President Kamala Harris struggled to explain to &#8220;Late Night&#8221; host Stephen Colbert what exactly her job duties are around the Biden White House:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Sarah Palin was dragged by the media for much less &#8230; Kamala Harris can&#39;t answer a question about what the vice president&#39;s duties are &#8212; on late-night TV. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CRINGE?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CRINGE</a> <a href="https://t.co/oB5yzX0kQK">pic.twitter.com/oB5yzX0kQK</a>
&mdash; Caleb Parke (@calebparke) <a href="https://twitter.com/calebparke/status/1636357404378951688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;One of the themes of the show [Veep] is that her character, Selina Meyer, is frustrated by the sometimes vague duties of the role. It’s a high constitutional office, but does not describe what you’re supposed to be doing,&#8221; Colbert said. “Does that ring true? Like, what’s the actual role on a daily basis as you have found it?&#8221;
&#8220;Well, I have the great privilege of serving with Joe Biden, who is the President of the United States,” Harris responded.
&#8220;Does he understand what it&#8217;s like to be vice president?&#8221; Colbert then jokingly asked.
&#8220;He does, he does,&#8221; Harris replied with a laugh. &#8220;He really is a true partner and he understands that job,” Harris said before rambling and concluding that Biden is an &#8220;extraordinary leader. He really is.&#8221;
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To his credit, Colbert rebutted, &#8220;That&#8217;s an excellent answer and, uh, the question was, what&#8217;s the job of the vice president … and your answer is part of the job, I&#8217;m guessing?&#8221;
Harris was then able to articulate one example of other duties, such as going to the Munich Security Conference.
Of course, Harris actually has been tasked with plenty under Biden. Nearly a year ago, she was tapped as Biden&#8217;s border czar to deal with the deluge of illegal aliens flooding into the country via Mexico.
Suffice it to say, she failed at that one.
Perhaps Harris&#8217; real duty is acting as President Joe Biden&#8217;s insurance policy against impeachment or being knocked off the ballot in 2024. He cannot be removed because then she&#8217;ll head up the ticket.
Even a Democrat is wise enough to know that would be a total disaster — which is really saying something compared to the direction the country is currently headed.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and guest Sen. Kamala Harris during Thursday’s November 21, 2019 show.

WATCH: Kamala Harris Has No Idea What Her Job Duties Are

Biden Administration

Executive

Joe Biden

Kamala Harris

Politics

Film director Steven Spielberg knows a thing or two about extraterrestrials — he did, after all, direct the 1982 blockbuster &#8220;E.T.&#8221;
And he knows a thing or two about UFOs — he did, after all, direct &#8220;Close Encounters of the Third Kind.&#8221;
For the record, a close encounter of the first kind is when someone sees something unusual in the sky but it leaves no evidence, according to Ohio State University astronomer J. Alan Hynek. &#8220;The Second Kind: A UFO leaves some physical trace: burns on the ground or broken branches,&#8221; WYTV <a href="https://www.wytv.com/home/close-encounters-of-the-1st-2nd-and-3rd-kind/">reported</a>. &#8220;The Third Kind: You make contact with a U.F.O, you see some alien pilot aboard one or other life form.&#8221;
People experience close encounters of the first kind all the time — even more, it seems, nowadays. And Spielberg has some theories about UFOs and extraterrestrials.
“I’ve never seen a UFO,” Spielberg said in an interview on “The Late Show with Steven Colbert,&#8221; <a href="https://www.the-sun.com/news/7559820/steven-spielberg-ufo-conspiracy-theory-aliens/">according</a> to The Sun. &#8220;I wish I had! I’ve never seen anything I can’t explain. But I believe certain people who have seen things that they can’t explain.&#8221;
&#8220;I think what has been coming up recently is fascinating, absolutely fascinating. And I think the secrecy that is shrouding all of these sightings and the lack of transparency… I think there is something going on that just needs extraordinary due diligence,&#8221; the director added.
Spielberg went on to pontificate about interstellar life.
“I don’t believe we’re alone in the universe. I think it’s mathematically impossible that we are the only intelligent species in the cosmos. I think that’s totally impossible. At the same time, it also seems impossible that someone would visit us from 400 million lightyears from here — except in the movies, of course — unless it figures out some way of jumping the shark, so to speak, and getting here through wormholes,&#8221; Spielberg said.
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While Spielberg doesn&#8217;t think any being in the universe has yet mastered faster-than-light travel, the idea that humans could have figured out time travel is more in the realm of possibility. Then he dropped an out-there theory.
“The most optimistic thing I feel about these things we see in the skies, that the Army and Navy and Air Force are recording on their gun cameras, is that what if they’re not from an advanced civilization 300 million lightyears from here?” he said. “What if it’s us, 500,000 years in the future, that is coming back to document the second half of the 20th century and into the 21st century because they’re anthropologists? And they know something we don’t quite know yet that has occurred, and they’re trying to track the last hundred years of our history.”
Colbert jumped in to note that according to Spielberg&#8217;s theory, humanity on Earth would at least have survived 500,000 years.
“Yes, we survive,” he said. “Or at least a certain percentage of us survives that allows future generations to flourish.”
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to josephcurl@dailywire.com and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.

Director Steven Spielberg poses with E.T. at Carlo Rimbaldi studio in April, 1982 in Los Angeles, California.  (Photo by

Steven Spielberg Drops Bizarre UFO Conspiracy That Aliens Could Be Time-Traveling Earthlings

Steven Spielberg

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jon-stewart" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jon Stewart</a>, a dyed-in-the-wool liberal who once hosted &#8220;The Daily Show,&#8221; was ripped by fellow liberals when he vehemently (and in a quite funny way) declared nearly two years ago that the COVID virus emerged from a lab in Wuhan, China.
That was in June 2021. He took endless guff from critics.
Turns out he was right — at least according to a new report from the U.S. Energy Department.
&#8220;First of all, I wasn’t waiting on the Department of Energy to weigh in on this,&#8221; Stewart said this week on his podcast. And he pointed out that he was doing what humans do: Pondering. He wondered why the virus came from a place where there just happened to be a laboratory studying coronaviruses &#8212; like COVID.
&#8220;The larger problem with all of this is the inability to discuss things that are within the realm of possibility without falling into absolutes and litmus-testing each other for our political allegiances as it arose from that,&#8221; he said. &#8220;My bigger problem with that was, I thought it was a pretty good bit that expressed kind of how I felt, and the two things that came out of it were, I’m racist against Asian people, and how dare I align myself with the alt-right.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Today <a href="https://twitter.com/jonstewart?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JonStewart</a> talks to some of our staff about the news that the COVID-19 virus may, in fact, have leaked from a lab in China and what it reveals about the problem with the media narrative machine. Full episode drops Wednesday on <a href="https://twitter.com/ApplePodcasts?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ApplePodcasts</a> <a href="https://t.co/tsaLUYzIRl">pic.twitter.com/tsaLUYzIRl</a>
&mdash; The Problem With Jon Stewart (@TheProblem) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheProblem/status/1630307406390390784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 27, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
That&#8217;s what happens when you question the conventional &#8220;wisdom&#8221; being pressed by liberal media &#8212; while social media supresses anything that runs counter to that wisdom.
Stewart let loose on his critics who blasted him back in June 2021. &#8220;The part that I don’t like about it is the absolutes and the dismissive, like, ‘f*** you, I’m done with you,&#8217; &#8216;I will never forgive you, you have crossed an unforgivable line.&#8217; &#8216;You’ve expressed an opinion that is antithetical to mine, or not mine,’” Stewart said.
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The Wall Street Journal reported this week that the COVID virus most likely originated from a laboratory leak, according to a classified intelligence report from the U.S. Energy Department.
The report, which was included in an update to a 2021 document by the Director of National Intelligence&#8217;s office, was recently delivered to the White House and top lawmakers in Congress. Sources told the Journal that the updated assessment from the Energy Department is the result of new intelligence.
That report followed a declassified intelligence report released in November 2021 by the FBI that concluded with &#8220;moderate confidence&#8221; that the virus emerged after a &#8220;laboratory accident.&#8221;
In a wild appearance on &#8220;The Late Show&#8221; with Stephen Colbert, an animated Stewart went on a rant about the origin of COVID.
Toeing the liberal line, Colbert asked: &#8220;Do you mean perhaps there’s a chance that this was created in a lab? If there’s evidence, I’d love to hear it.”
“A chance? Oh my god!” an incredulous Stewart replied. “There’s a novel respiratory coronavirus overtaking Wuhan, China, what do we do? Oh, you know who we could ask? The Wuhan novel respiratory coronavirus lab! The disease is the same name as the lab! That’s just a little too weird, don’t you think?”
Stewart then pretended to be a Wuhan scientist, claiming the virus emerged when “a pangolin kissed a turtle” or “a bat flew into the cloaca of a turkey, and then it sneezed into my chili and now we all have coronavirus.”
He went on to note the absurdity of the virus emerging in a city with a coronavirus lab.
“There’s been an outbreak of chocolatey goodness near Hershey, Pennsylvania — what do you think happened?” he said. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe a steam shovel mated with a cocoa bean … or it’s the f***ing chocolate factory. Maybe that’s it!”
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The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to josephcurl@dailywire.com and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.

Jon Stewart 911 Fund

‘How Dare I?’: A Vindicated Jon Stewart, Who Long Ago Declared COVID Came From Wuhan Lab, Rips Critics

 'How Dare I?': A Vindicated Jon Stewart, Who Long Ago Declared COVID Came From Wuhan Lab, Rips Critics

COVID

Jon Stewart

Wuhan Institute of Virology

One of the perks of being a film critic is getting access to the stills shared by film studios.
Example? The film “Champions” offers multiple photos from the film’s production to flesh out reviews and features based on the Woody Harrelson comedy.
One image featured director Bobby Farrelly of “There’s Something About Mary” fame coaching his young actors while wearing a mask.
It’s not an isolated incident. Similar stills show masked-up artists on sets, often working with maskless actors. That’s Hollywood, at least as it stands three years after the COVID pandemic swamped the planet.
The rest of society has mostly ditched pandemic restrictions, many of which seem to have had little impact on curtailing the virus. Not Hollywood, where masking, vaccine mandates, and more remain the norm.
And a small group of stars is fighting back.
“The Nanny” alum Fran Drescher, the current SAG-AFTRA president, excoriated her peers for <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/02/27/fran-drescher-calls-for-end-to-vaccine-mandate-in-sag-speech/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pursuing vaccine mandates</a> long after their alleged usefulness was exposed. She shared that message during the recent SAG Awards gala.
SAG AFTRA, or the Screen Actors Guild — American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, is a labor union representing artists from across the creative spectrum. Think movie stars, directors, models and radio personalities.
“As the nation declares an end to the COVID emergency this May, I hope we will see everyone return to work in equal opportunity,” she said during her podium time, demanding an end of the “bulls***” COVID vaccine mandates.
Her message came roughly the same time as Woody Harrelson uncorked a “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/based-woody-harrelson-ridicules-covid-drug-cartels-and-lockdowns-on-snl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Saturday Night Live” monologue</a> that poked holes in the virus protocols we’ve been forced to live under for years. The “Champions” star shared a fictional, funny story about a wacky script in which Big Pharma forced everyone to take their medication or stay locked in their homes in perpetuity.
And Harrelson wasn’t done disrupting Hollywood’s lockstep COVID narrative. He told The New York Times that a free country <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/02/27/magazine/woody-harrelson-interview.html?smid=fb-nytimes&amp;smtyp=cur" target="_blank" rel="noopener">doesn’t force its citizens</a> to take medicine against their will.
“I don’t think that anybody should have the right to demand that you’re forced to do the testing, forced to wear the mask and forced to get vaccinated three years on,” he said. “I’m just like, let’s be done with this nonsense. It’s not fair to the crews. I don’t have to wear the mask. Why should they? Why should they have to be vaccinated? How’s that not up to the individual? I shouldn’t be talking about this [expletive].”
Drescher and Harrelson’s views came months after Oscar-winner Tim Robbins excoriated his industry for similar protocols.
Robbins admits he sounded like every Hollywood star early in the pandemic. Do as your told. Lock down indefinitely. Listen to Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Then, the “Bull Durham” star reached out to other people who questioned the narratives embraced in near uniformity by Hollywood, Inc. And something didn’t feel right, especially when we learned the vaccines neither prevented transmission or stopped the recipient from becoming infected.
He shared his <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/tim-robbins-russell-brand-covid-media-politics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">growing skepticism with Britain’s Russell Brand</a>, the quasi-socialist comic who has been aggressively red-pilled in recent years. Robbins noted talk of science came with an asterisk.
“…to continue the policy of lockdowns or mandates after that didn’t seem to be following the science. It was following a political agenda.”
Robbins also wondered why natural immunity, an established way to combat past viruses, was dismissed by so many, including Dr. Fauci, the nation’s revered expert on the matter.
Forcing artists to obey these rules, or else, made Robbins speak out on the matter. That practice crushed the careers of more than a few stars, including Clifton Duncan. The Broadway actor essentially left the industry because he <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtOKcDF4BGQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">refused to take the vaccine</a>.
By any measure comedian Rob Schneider was ahead of the curve when it came to protocol skepticism. The “Deuce Bigalow” star, who has drifted to the Right in recent years, publicly shared his <a href="https://twitter.com/RobSchneider/status/1413884214726971394?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1413884214726971394%7Ctwgr%5E37fd71e0ed6920c5339030ecf878f0d63ea7173c%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tmz.com%2F2021%2F07%2F10%2Frob-schneider-use-guns-second-amendment-covid-vaccine-shot%2F" target="_blank" rel="noopener">unease with the COVID vaccines</a> on Twitter in 2021 while nearly all of his peers signed off on the treatments.
“Just say no&#8230; And keep saying no&#8230; Over Half of the US population is continuing to say no to this unapproved experimental gene therapy! “My body, my choice!”
These voices still represent a fraction of the modern Hollywood landscape. Many stars might agree with them, but they fear professional repercussions for admitting so. <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/hypocrisy-unlimited-hollywoods-secret-counterfeit-vaccine-network_5081938.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Others cheated</a>, plain and simple. They were part of a counterfeit vaccine status market where they pretended to play by the rules but still avoided the COVID jabs.
Others appear happy with the status quo — performing without masks while others mask up from start to finish.
Stephen Colbert recently <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/02/02/stephen-colberts-masked-up-audience-mocked-their-brains-are-broken/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told his “Late Show” audience</a> about President Joe Biden’s decision to rescind the emergency status tied to the pandemic.
“I wish you could see the smiles on the faces in my audience. And I wish I could, too. Because they’re still wearing masks.”
Colbert may represent the industry’s rigid groupthink on the matter. When Colbert, a reliably progressive voice, learned that the Department of Energy determined the lab leak theory tied to COVID is the likely source of the outbreak he did all he could <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/colbert-mocks-energy-department-saying-chinese-lab-leak-likely-started-covid" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to deny the truth</a>.
“No! No! Bad Energy Department. No bio-labs until you finish building your electric car-charging stations. Stay in your lane!”
No matter what Drescher, Harrelson, or Robbins think, the industry’s COVID protocols will stay in place <a href="https://deadline.com/2023/01/covid-protocol-extended-hollywoods-union-producers-1235242705/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">through April 1</a> … if not longer.
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of <a href="http://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News&#8217; Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://twitter.com/HollywoodInToto?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@HollywoodInToto</a>. 
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

29th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards – Show

Removing The Mask: Hollywood Stars Call For An End To COVID Mandates

Saturday Night Live

Late-night host Stephen Colbert mocked the claim from the Department of Energy that a lab leak in China was likely responsible for the origin of the COVID pandemic.
The Department of Energy joined the FBI, which had <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/26/us/politics/china-lab-leak-coronavirus-pandemic.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a> with moderate confidence that COVID started accidentally from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
“The Department of Energy released a new report saying a lab leak is the most likely origin of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Colbert noted. “Well, there it is. Chinese wet markets, you’re off the hook. Let’s order a round of pangolin poppers for the table. I love a nice plate of wet apps.”
“Now, if like me, you’re wondering why the Department of Energy is the one making this judgment, it’s because that agency “oversees a network of U.S. national laboratories, some of which conduct advanced biological research,” Colbert said, quoting <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-origin-china-lab-leak-807b7b0a" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Wall Street Journal</a>, neglecting to add that the Journal prefaced that comment by writing that the Department “has considerable scientific expertise.”
“No! No! Bad Energy Department. No bio-labs until you finish building your electric car-charging stations. Stay in your lane,” Colbert snapped.
Colbert noted that four other federal agencies concluded that the pandemic was likely the result of natural transmission, then carped, “We’ll have more on this story as soon as anyone has anything they can prove.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Steve Colbert (<a href="https://twitter.com/StephenAtHome?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@StephenAtHome</a>) attacks the Dept. of Energy for its investigation finding Covid likely came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology: &quot;Stay in your lane&quot; <a href="https://t.co/s50uYLZM3k">pic.twitter.com/s50uYLZM3k</a>
&mdash; Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) <a href="https://twitter.com/tomselliott/status/1630535593934352384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 28, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In September 2021, Colbert tried to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSfejgwbDQ8">shoot down</a> Jon Stewart’s suggestion that the virus originated in Wuhan.
“Do you mean perhaps there’s a chance that this was created in a lab? There’s an investigation — “ Colbert asked.
“A chance?” Stewart mocked. “Oh my God.”
“If there’s evidence I’d love to hear,” Colbert told him.
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“There’s a novel respiratory coronavirus overtaking Wuhan, China. What do we do?” Stewart fired back. “Oh, you know who we could ask? The Wuhan Novel Respiratory Coronavirus Lab. The disease is the same name as the lab. That’s just a little too weird, don’t you think? And then the actual scientists are like, ‘How did this?’ So wait a minute, you work at the Wuhan Respiratory Coronavirus Lab. How did this happen? And they’re like, ‘A pangolin kissed a turtle?’”
“Oh, my God, there’s been an outbreak of chocolatey goodness near Hershey, Pennsylvania. What do you think happened?” Stewart continued. “Like, ‘Oh, I don’t know, maybe a steam shovel mated with a cocoa bean?’ Or it’s the f***ing chocolate factory!”
“It could be possible, you could be right,” Colbert said, before trying to rebut Stewart by saying, “It could be possible they have the lab in Wuhan to study the novel coronavirus diseases because in Wuhan there are a lot of novel coronavirus diseases because of the bat population.”
“I understand, it’s the local specialty,” Stewart replied. “And it’s the only place to find bats. You won’t find bats anywhere else. Oh, wait. Austin, Texas has thousands of ‘em that fly out of a cave every night. Every night at dusk. Is there a coronavirus, an Austin coronavirus?”
“And how long have you worked for Senator Ron Johnson,” Colbert tried lamely, referring to Johnson’s <a href="applewebdata://68E8BFB4-6349-4387-92AD-C27A397B4130/v">attempts</a> to obtain information about a possible connection between the Wuhan lab and the coronavirus.

Colbert Mocks Energy Department Saying Chinese Lab Leak Likely Started COVID

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