Jim Carrey (Again) Announces He Will Stop Drawing His Political Cartoons

FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images/Twitter screenshot: jimcarrey
Frederic J. Brown/Getty, Twitter/@jimcarrey
Alana Mastrangelo

Actor Jim Carrey announced Saturday on social media that he will no longer be posting political cartoons — echoing a vow he made and soon broke in early 2020.

Carrey posted a URL on his Twitter account, the location of a bare-bones website containing a statement about his artwork.

“Hey folks… for the past 4yrs, among other commitments, I put considerable effort into this collection of political protest cartoons,” Carrey wrote. “It truly feels as though you and I have crossed an ocean of outrage together… but something tells me it’s time to rest my social media gavel and reclaim a little neurological bandwidth.”

Accompanying the URL, Carrey’s post included a cartoon depicting the ending of his 1998 film The Truman Show. In that moment, his character Truman Burbank has reached the edge of a manmade dome where he has lived his entire life, unknowingly followed by hidden cameras. “In case I don’t see ya…” the image’s caption reads. In the film, Truman finishes that phrase with a callback to a daily slogan of his: “…good afternoon, good evening, and good night.”

In his statement, the Kidding star went on to clarify that he did not mean to ignore his “main Twitter followers” over the last four years by having what appeared to be an incessant need to post politically-charged artwork to his account.

“If it seemed like I was ignoring my main Twitter followers here and outside the US and Canada in my quest to rid our democracy of ‘Orange Julius Caesar’ and his Empire of Lies, it was not my intention,” Carrey explained.

“I just assumed that a radicalized America is a threat to us all,” he continued. “When a madman grabs the wheel of the bus loaded with innocent passengers and threatens to drive it off a cliff, it tends to steal everyone’s focus.”

“You always have and always will occupy a sacred space in my grateful heart,” Carrey concluded. “Thank you all kindly for your patience, your support, your humor, and your b. e. a. utiful fanart.”

During the Trump administration, the Dumb and Dumber actor perpetually posted crass and gory political cartoons lambasting the former president, his supporters, and other Republicans. But a little over a year ago, he made a similar, ill-fated vow to tone down his caustic illustrations.

In January, as he promoted the children’s film Sonic the Hedgehog, Carrey said he was done satirizing President Donald Trump, saying, “I basically didn’t bring that into 2020 with me.” However, just two months later, he relapsed into his habit with a cartoon blasting Trump for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Later in the year, as the Republican Nation Convention kicked off, Carrey published a political painting depicting President Abraham Lincoln sticking the barrel of a rifle into his mouth, appearing to gear up to commit suicide.

A day before that, the actor posted a grotesque painting depicting a tearful man breathing from a ventilator and wearing a red hat with the words “MAKE AMERICA DIE FOR HIM” on it.

Carrey captioned the image “180,000” deaths and counting. The tweet was published in late August, roughly six months after the Wuhan coronavirus began plaguing the United States.

Carrey has not similarly blamed President Joe Biden for the 100,000 coronavirus-related deaths the United States has suffered during the first month of his administration.

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.

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