There’s no doubt President Barack Obama has a friend in Hollywood.
But a new feature at TheWrap.com suggests the president’s recent stumbles have opened the door, if only a crack, for right of center artists.
“There are lot more [Republicans] than people think,” Frank DeMartini, a veteran film producer who blogs at HollywoodRepublican.net, told TheWrap. “It used to be about 80-20, Democrat. Now, I’d say it’s closer to 60-40. A majority of Republicans in Hollywood are hiding under rocks.”
“There are certainly more conviction conservatives in Hollywood than conviction liberals,” agrees screenwriter Lionel Chetwynd, one of the entertainment industry’s most visible Republicans for years. Though he thinks the 60-40 ratio may be a bit high, he contends that “a lot of people just say they’re liberals because it’s good for their career.”
Who can say for sure? No one, really. Hollywood Republicans say many of their peers fear employment discrimination in a liberally liberal industry.
Sure, lots of A-list Republicans have stepped into the sunlight – Kelsey Grammar, Gary Sinise, Drew Carey, Patricia Heaton, Bruce Willis, Clint Eastwood, Jerry Bruckheimer and Adam Sandler.
But they are a relatively small subset, and their success inoculates them against job loss. As money-makers, they have far more freedom of political expression than hundreds or even thousands of lesser-known Republican actors as well as above- and below-the-line Republicans.
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