During a discussion on “The View,” the hosts took aim at actor Billy Bob Thornton after he criticized celebrities who use their fame to express political opinions. Alyssa Farah Griffin recalled a previous instance when the show advised actor George Clooney to refrain from political commentary.
Thornton, in a recent appearance on the “Howie Mandel Does Stuff” podcast, explained his reluctance to leverage his Hollywood status for political advocacy. Citing a well-known Ricky Gervais quip, he expressed a preference for avoiding political speeches during award shows, essentially saying, “Collect your award and move on.”
The actor admitted, “I’m not well-versed in politics. My beliefs are personal, and I don’t feel the need to impose them on others since I’m no expert.”
Whoopi Goldberg appeared unfazed by Thornton’s remarks, but Joy Behar reacted with disdain, commenting, “It’s astonishing to boast about one’s lack of awareness.”
Sunny Hostin echoed Behar’s sentiments, emphasizing, “We are at a critical juncture in our nation, and democracy demands active participation.”
“I think when you have a platform, that means I have an outsized voice and when you have a platform, I think that you have a responsibility to speak up about what’s going on in this country and my view silence is complicity. We need every single ally to speak out.”
Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin responded by noting, “A, Billy Bob Thornton is one of my favorite actors. I’m never going to say a bad word about him, starting with that. But B, a lot of this table criticized George Clooney when he wrote his Biden op-ed.”
“That is a celebrity using his voice, saying what he believes, it can’t just be when they agree with your position,” Griffin added.
“He can say it and I can criticize it, that’s called free speech,” Behar retorted.
Griffin went on to criticize what she called “slacktivism,” where celebrities feel righteous for sending out political statements without getting meaningfully involved in the actual work of politics themselves.
“I don’t think we should bully people,” she added, “saying, ‘You have to speak out.’”
Co-host Sara Haines agreed, arguing that celebrities making bombastic political statements are just preaching to the choir of people who already agree with them and are enraging those who disagree with them.