Actors and musicians such as Leonardo DiCaprio or Katy Perry wade into politics full throttle. As one can imagine, most of the more politically vocal celebrities stump for the Democratic Party, and they’re rewarded with access and favorable media reports.
There are outspoken Republican celebrities too, of course, like Nick Searcy and James Woods, but they don’t seem to receive the kind of slobbery media coverage as those who bat for the Left.
Then there are the celebrities who don’t make politics part of their personas. The problem for these celebrities is that the media want to tie them down on issues, and beat them into submission if they refuse.
On Wednesday Esquire published an article about celebrities with massive social media followings who have not weighed in on the 2016 election. It seems to be an effort to shame them into doing so, and I hope these celebrities resist. I really don’t care what Taylor Swift thinks of Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, I just want her to keep making songs that I never have to buy because they’re played endlessly everywhere I go.
I don’t want to know what Bruno Mars thinks about climate change or immigration, I want him to continue keeping the shiny suit industry in business.
And I don’t want to know what Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson thinks about trade policy, I just want him to keep being awesome.
This follows the media’s recent obsession with forcing female celebrities to declare themselves feminists. If a female celebrity dares say she’s not a feminist, then the media will gather an online outrage mob until she walks back her comments, as was the case with Kaley Cuoco.
If a celebrity wants to talk about politics, let him, but don’t force those who don’t want to talk about politics into talk about it. Maybe Swift, Mars, Johnson and others have realized that they don’t want to alienate large swaths of their fanbases. We should let them be.
Ashe Schow is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
