Politics and Hollywood almost always intersect when it comes down to an election year. Many heavyweights in the industry will throw their weight and money behind their candidate of choice, and they can become a strong part of generating revenue for their campaign. We’ve come to their intersection once again following the first presidential debate betweenPresident Joe Bidenand former PresidentDonald Trump,but not in the way one might imagine. After Biden performed poorly during a recent, crucial debate,many of his high-profile celebrity supporters are now shifting gears and suggesting that he should step down toprevent Trump from re-entering the White House.
PerThe Hollywood Reporter,Hollywood donors have begun to step away from the Biden campaign.Some of the donors includeNetflixco-founder Reed Hastings, media mogul Barry Diller, and Disney heiress, Abigail Disney. Hastings has been known to have donated more than $20 million to support the Democratic Party and his sentiments seem to echo many who are withdrawing their support:
“Biden needs to step aside to allow a vigorous Democratic leader to beat Trump and keep us safe and prosperous.”
George Clooney Becomes the Latest High-Profile Celebrity to Pull His Support
Bigger stars and creatives are also vocalizing the need for Biden to step aside.George Clooney, who has been known to support the Democratic Party and wrote a fundraising email for Biden initially, has made a major about-face by writing an op-ed forThe New York Timescalling for Biden to step down in a very blunt fashion. While acknowledging that Biden mayhave been “tired"or had a cold during the debate, he made it clear that it can’t be ignored that the current President isn’t the man who won the election in 2020.
“Was he tired? Yes. A cold? Maybe. But our party leaders need to stop telling us that 51 million people didn’t see what we just saw. We’re all so terrified by the prospect of a second Trump term that we’ve opted to ignore every warning sign. The George Stephanopoulos interview only reinforced what we saw the week before. As Democrats, we collectively hold our breath or turn down the volume whenever we see the president, who we respect, walk off Air Force One or walk back to a mic to answer an unscripted question.”
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Other Hollywood creatives suggesting that Biden step down includeLostshowrunner Damon Lindelof, whowrote an essaysuggesting Democrats stop all their financial support for the party until Biden pulls out, and Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel, who also suggested that pulling money would make the campaign realize that it’s time for someone else to step in for the current President.
Other celebrity supporters who were once vocal in the past with their words and their wallets, but have remained silent now, include mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg, director Steven Spielberg, late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, and actress Julia Roberts, while filmmaker Rob Reiner, andauthor Stephen Kinghave called for Biden to step down. King recently took toXto say:
“Joe Biden has been a fine president, but it’s time for him—in the interests of the America he so clearly loves—to announce he will not run for re-election.”
Despite calls for him to step aside for a more viable candidate, President Biden has reaffirmed his decision to keep running as the Democratic choice on the ticket, with an upcoming interview with NBC’s Lester Holt, following his polarizing sit down with George Stephanopoulos on ABC.
