Canadian actress Tatiana Maslany used an appearance on Mehdi Hasan’s Zeteo podcast to attack Tom Selleck’s reluctance to speak politically and risk alienating a large portion of his audience, as reported by Breitbart.

The She-Hulk star called that outlook “cowardly” and declared that entertainment cannot be separated from politics.

Maslany presented artists as reflections of the societies around them. “Artists are like mirrors to the world, to society,” she told Hasan during the Monday appearance.

She also argued that openly identifying issues is a fundamental artistic responsibility. “We have to name things — it’s, like, such an important, intrinsic part of our job,” Maslany said.

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Hasan raised what he described as a counterargument commonly heard from artists and celebrities.

He recalled watching Selleck, the actor known for Magnum, P.I., discuss his decision not to speak out about President Donald Trump during an appearance on CNN.

According to Hasan’s account, Selleck said he did not dabble in politics and questioned why an entertainer would want to anger half the country.

Hasan also cited Michael Jordan’s remark, “Republicans buy shoes, too,” before asking Maslany to respond to that position.

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Maslany rejected the idea that entertainment and politics can operate independently. “But, all of it is political, like, everything is political,” the Orphan Black star replied.

She expanded her argument by saying every piece of entertainment communicates a particular outlook.

“All entertainment is political, because it has a viewpoint, and it has a perspective. It has visual representation of the world we live in or the kinds of things that are funny or acceptable.”

Maslany said she sees no meaningful separation between entertainment and political expression.

She also turned her criticism directly toward Selleck and Jordan, focusing on their wealth and what she viewed as their reluctance to risk it.

“There’s no disconnect, in my mind,” she said. “And, to me, those are two very rich men who stand to lose a lot if they stand up for something.”

The Perry Mason actress argued that art should also unsettle its audience.

“Art should destabilize people, too,” she said before laughing as she imagined Selleck treating Magnum, P.I. as something intended to disturb viewers on a fundamental level.

Despite that mockery, Maslany maintained that art has the power to affect people in multiple ways. “But, like, art moves people,” she declared.

She continued, “Whether that’s in, like, a shock way, a laughter way, all of it. It’s a communication with the world.” Hasan agreed that politics could not simply be separated from entertainment.

“You can’t ward it off or separate it,” Hasan said. Maslany answered, “No, 100% not.”

Maslany then delivered her sharpest judgment of celebrities who take the approach attributed to Selleck and Jordan. “It’s such a bizarre mentality. It’s so cowardly,” she said.

Elsewhere in the conversation, Maslany told Hasan she was “totally against” the Paramount merger. She said she suspected the merger would limit the voices audiences could hear within entertainment.

Maslany claimed the arrangement would place creative output through what she described as an ideological filter.

“It’s going to make all the output that we have, any content that we create, go through a filter of this sort of conservative ideology or be gatekept in a way that we can’t make shows that say anything about the current administration, even in a veiled way,” she said.

The actress also said she had heard about programs being canceled for that reason. “I’ve heard of shows being cancelled for that very reason,” Maslany told Hasan.

She concluded that the consequences would extend to the range of people and perspectives represented in entertainment.

“It’s also just, like, limiting, limiting, limiting, like, the kinds of voices we can hear from. All of that. All of that stuff.”

The report characterized Maslany’s concern about ideological limits as ironic, arguing that the entertainment industry is dominated by the left.

Her comments nevertheless tied together her two positions: that all entertainment carries a political perspective and that artists should openly express one.

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