It’s an open secret that the entertainment industry has become increasingly leftist in recent years and a hostile place for conservatives and right-leaning people to work.
An artist who deviates from the extremist leftist narratives pushed out by many of today’s A-list stars is often ridiculed by the media or even denied work opportunities.
It’s a sad state of affairs — especially since this bullying happens in an industry that is supposed to be based around empathy and diversity of thought.
Right-leaning artists, however, seem to be gaining some ground in the culture wars under President Donald Trump.
Just this year, there has been the enormous ratings success of “Roseanne,” a sitcom that tackles politics without an obvious liberal agenda and dares to show Trump voters in a sympathetic light. Though many artists have attacked the show, creator and star Roseanne Barr has won over millions of average Americans who are fed up with the “same-old same-old” from Hollywood.
There’s also Kanye West, a rapper who has never settled for moving with the crowd. He’s been earning himself massive amounts of backlash from fellow artists and the media for daring to express slightly positive thoughts about the president and right-leaning thinkers such as Candace Owens and Scott Adams.
“You don’t have to agree with Trump but the mob can’t make me not love him. We are both dragon energy. He is my brother. I love everyone. I don’t agree with everything anyone does. That’s what makes us individuals. And we have the right to independent thought,” West tweeted recently.
But many left-leaning artists have turned on the rapper — and reduced themselves to hollow name-calling.
It’s nice to see black people and white people coming together to be complete freaking lunatics. https://t.co/QaIs8LdPN4
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) April 25, 2018
Sign him onto your legal team. Think out the box. Y'all got this. #MAGA https://t.co/aTiYkgroW9
— Jeffrey Wright (@jfreewright) April 25, 2018
It’s great to be a free thinker but that alone ain’t the point. If you’re freely thinking your way into dumb conclusions then color me not impressed.
— Touré (@Toure) April 25, 2018
So, they’re streaming music in The Sunken Place?? That’s got Be where the audience @kanyewest is courting is gonna buy that new release!#shallwesavehim#hedon’twannabesaved
— Samuel L. Jackson (@SamuelLJackson) April 26, 2018
Though West has refused to apologize for any of his views or beliefs, others have folded under pressure.
After saying in an interview she would have voted for the president, musician Shania Twain immediately took to social media to reassure people she did not agree with anything Trump said. She caved because she was painted into a corner by fellow artists and supposed cultural thinkers.
Meanwhile, creative standouts like Kanye West and Roseanne Barr deserve praise for refusing to put themselves into any box, either conservative or liberal. They believe what they believe and they’re proud of it. They’re standing their ground despite pressure — and reminding the people it’s actually good for the world’s artists to have a variety of opinions.
Some people enthusiastically support West and Barr. Chance the Rapper (shown in the above at the top of this article, far right) recently took to Twitter to remind West’s critics that a person’s skin color does not need to determine which political party he or she votes for in any election.
Black people don’t have to be democrats.
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) April 25, 2018
The president himself also weighed in on West’s support while being interviewed on the morning show “Fox & Friends.”
“He has good taste,” the president said — then praised the rapper for “sticking to his guns.”
He added that historic unemployment rates for African-Americans and his focus on combating violence in urban areas like Chicago are what have won over Kanye West and others.
“He sees that stuff and he’s smart. He says, ‘You know what? Trump is doing a much better job than the Democrats did,'” said the president.
Trump also shared his thoughts on artists like Twain who refuse to stand their ground.
“Shania, who I think is terrific … she made a mistake by sort of saying, ‘I wish I didn’t go public with it,'” he said. “But we know how she feels.”
PopZette editor Zachary Leeman can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter.
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