Zachary Levi recently took to Instagram to refute Whoopi Goldberg’s claim that Hollywood has “always been a very right-leaning town.” Goldberg tried to teach the “Shazam” actor a lesson during an episode of “The View” earlier this month after he publicly endorses Donald Trump for president. Levi said he was risking career suicide by supporting Trump because “Hollywood is a very, very liberal town.”
Goldberg rejected the claim as “more B.S.” and told Levi that “we’re a mixed bunch” in Hollywood and “sometimes it seems like there’s more Democrats and sometimes it seems like there’s more Republicans, but the truth of the matter is very few people seem to bite it because they’re Republican.” She went on to cite the ongoing careers of “working” Republican actors like Jon Voight and Dennis Quaid.
“To Whoopi Goldberg and all of the folks at ‘The View,’ I don’t think it’s accurate to say that somehow Hollywood is both a liberal and conservative town,” Levi now responded in the Instagram video. “To Whoopi’s point, back in the day there might have been more of a balance…but you really have to be at a certain level of your career [now] to really get away with [being an outspoken Republican in Hollywood].”
Levi noted that Goldberg could only cite two examples, Jon Voight and Dennis Quaid, adding: “Of the thousands of actors in Hollywood, that you could only name two actually speaks to that.”
“There are plenty, and by the way, they’ve sent me lots of messages, plenty of people in my industry, in Hollywood, who are terrified to publicly say they would vote for Donald Trump or be conservative in any way,” Levi said. “That’s why you don’t see them. That’s why they’re not very prevalent or prominent. They know there’s ramifications for this kind of shit.”
“But ya’ll, our industry is going to be fucking gonzo. It already is,” he continued. “We’re getting eroded. The pandemic and the strikes.. they’ve already eroded it so much. My cry to all of you out there, you closeted Trump voters, it’s now or never. Do whatever you feel like you need to do. If you need to come out publicly and say it, if you feel like you still can’t, then don’t. I would never pressure you to do that. But know that if what you’re afraid of is somehow the backlash of an industry that’s not going to exist very soon, then don’t let that hold you back.”