Former DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg opened up about Hillary Clinton’s “heart-wrenching” loss to President-elect Donald Trump in an open letter to Hollywood published by trade publication the Hollywood Reporter.
“As this ultimate national pastime continues, I just want to make sure that, whatever path President-elect Trump chooses, the way of Candidate Trump will not be our way,” Katzenberg, a Democratic Party mega-donor and staunch supporter of Clinton’s failed candidacy, wrote.
“The Founding Fathers provided tools to combat the demagogues they knew might come along,” Katzenberg continues. “We merely need to steadfastly take advantage of these tools, by making our 61 million-plus voices forcefully heard in the Congress, in the Senate, in the courts and peacefully on the streets.”
The Shrek producer encouraged his counterparts in Hollywood to “get back in the game.”
“No one should be more motivated to utilize these tools than we who work in the creative industries that stretch from Hollywood to Silicon Valley and beyond,” he wrote. “Ours is a community that prizes openness, respect and tolerance. The basis of our industries is freedom of expression. We must make clear to President-elect Trump that it is vitally important he support these values.”
Acknowledging Trump’s change in “tone and demeanor” in the days since the election, Katzenberg said it “does not erase a year of offensive, divisive, corrosive rhetoric.”
“This gives us some reason to believe that President Trump may be more reasonable than Candidate Trump. Maybe he is now prepared to forsake reality TV for reality,” Katzenberg wrote.
The film executive said “I am hopeful we are going to be seeing more of this new Donald Trump when he is president. And, as Hillary Clinton said, “We owe Donald Trump a chance to lead.”
Katzenberg, who contributed generously to President Obama’s 2012 campaign, also praised the president for treating Trump “with the respect, openness, decency and grace due the nation’s next leader.”
The 65-year-old movie mogul was one of Clinton’s most generous Hollywood backers. He co-hosted a $33,400 per-person fundraiser at George Clooney’s Studio City home in April.
Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter @jeromeehudson
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