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Burke:
Old but still relevant( from Liz Smith):
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Hollywood and the Big Snubola
Some time back, during the presidential campaign, we saw an articulate Bo Derek on CNBC's Hardball talking up the Republican side. She remarked that, in Hollywood, admitting to Republican leanings can be a dangerous thing, careerwise. We didn't think much of it at the time, except perhaps to muse on Bo's languid career.
But now we've heard firsthand of what can happen to an actor who is even thought to be Republican. Sharon Lawrence, of NYPD Blue fame, was in Washington, D.C., for the inauguration, attending the Creative Coalition Ball -- a nonpartisan advocacy organization of the arts and entertainment community. In the Feb. 5 issue of People, Sharon's photo appeared on the same page as President George W. Bush, his daughters and several prominent Republicans. Since the publication of that photo, Sharon, a lifelong Democrat who worked for Al Gore, has received hate mail and has been approached on the streets of L.A., irately confronted about "being a Republican." Most disturbing, in a business meeting the other day, Sharon was chilled when a producer said, with heavy emphasis, "I have to ask, are you really a Republican?"
Considerably shaken, Lawrence tells us, "If one is even perceived to be a Republican in Hollywood, there can be an excluding reaction and people genuinely resent you!" (The actress's voice quavered a bit in relating her adventures in mistaken political identity.) So let's set the record straight: Sharon Lawrence is not a Republican.
However, we are ashamed of our fellow Yellow Dog Democrats in Tinseltown who would seek to ostracize others -- perhaps even deprive them of employment -- because they are members of the Grand Old Party. That's not the American way. |
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Hollywood is left for the most part, yeah, except that a lot of producers and agents I know are very Republican (during the post-election fiasco, I went into one name-producer's office and saw, prominently, one of those "Sore Loserman" posters on his wall).
It's all about tax brackets until it becomes about public persona with the actor-types and who else really gets in the press about their political affiliation? Entertainment Tonight isn't going to run a segment on all these UTA and CAA agents showing up to mix with various producers and studio execs for a Republican fundraiser. To keep the eyes on that channel, they need to go somewhere where Carmen Electra is dressed in a piece of angel-hair pasta designed by Versace and carrying a white puppy into a democratic convention.
The idea that anyone would get shunned out of a part for being a Republican is pretty silly, however. If someone wants to blame that for why they might be toplining "The Mexican" opposite Brad Pitt instead of Julia, that's great, but it's certainly not the biggest stigma in H-wood.
