The Daily Mail had some exclusive first excerpts from Gary Oldman’s Playboy interview yesterday, and the Mail mentioned that Playboy wasn’t going to release the interview until Friday. Well, just kidding. Playboy must have realized they were sitting on the biggest click-bait interview of the year, so they put it online this morning – you can read the full thing here. As we discussed yesterday, Gary comes across like a total douchebag, an angry bigot with a pet cause of defending violent abusers and homophobes. I’m only excerpting the most “WTF?” parts, but Gary does talk about his career (he hates watching his films) and that kind of stuff too.
Whether he’s optimistic about humanity’s future: “I think we’re up s–t creek without a paddle or a compass… Culturally, politically, everywhere you look. I look at the world, I look at our leadership and I look at every aspect of our culture and wonder what will make it better.”
Reality TV & music: “It’s like the old saying about mediocrity: The mediocre are always at their best. They never let you down. Reality TV to me is the museum of social decay. And what passes for music—it’s all on that plateau. Who’s the hero for young people today? Some idiot who can’t f–king sing or write or who’s shaking her ass and twerking in front of 11-year-olds.”
Hollywood monsters: “I know what it means to do a job. I was a stockroom boy and did a lot of sweeping up. I worked in a factory. I respect people in the service industry. What irritates me more is when people aren’t respectful. There’s a lot of nonsense behavior, especially in a place like Hollywood. The money, the power, they create little monsters.”
Sobriety: “This past March was 17 years since I last had a drink. The secret is you have to want to stop. They talk about 12 steps if you go through the program, but the only one you have to do perfectly is the first, which is to acknowledge that you have a problem and that your life is unmanageable. It’s a horrible thing to be in what people call “the disease.”
The Pope: “Oh, f–k the pope! [laughs and puts head in hands] So this interview has gone very badly. You have to edit and cut half of what I’ve said, because it’s going to make me sound like a bigot.”
Who speaks the truth: There are a number of people. A voice I particularly like is Charles Kraut-hammer. I think he’s incredibly smart. I think he’s fair, very savvy and politically insightful, so I enjoy watching him. There are artists as well, like David Bowie, where there’s an autonomy. He recorded his most recent album and didn’t even announce he was doing it. He was in a position where he thought, Listen, I haven’t produced anything for 10 years. If this is no good, then I can just put it in a cupboard and no one need ever know. But he wrote the songs, picked the cover. I’ve always admired David. I’ve known him about 30 years. We’re friends. And David can constantly reinvent himself because he’s so talented. He has a point of view.
His politics: “I would say that I’m probably a libertarian if I had to put myself in any category. But you don’t come out and talk about these things, for obvious reasons. I think [Bill Maher] would fail the test. Anyway, unlike Bill Maher, conservatives in Hollywood don’t have a podium.
On Hillary Clinton: “What can I say? I feel we need some real leadership, and it’s nowhere in sight. Look at what’s happening right now. John Kerry going off to China to talk about North Korea? What’s that going to do? The ludicrousness of it. What a waste of money. You’re going to go to the puppeteer and say, “Can you help me with the puppet?” As far as Hillary, I guess I feel like my character in The Contender, Shelly Runyon. He doesn’t want Joan Allen to become president; he just believes she isn’t the right person for the job. It’s nothing to do with the fact that she’s a woman, but he uses a bit of dirt on her to bring her down.
He hates the Golden Globes: “It’s a meaningless event. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is kidding you that something’s happening. They’re f–king ridiculous. There’s nothing going on at all. It’s 90 nobodies having a wank. Everybody’s getting drunk, and everybody’s sucking up to everybody. Boycott the f–king thing. Just say we’re not going to play this silly game with you anymore. The Oscars are different. But it’s showbiz. It’s all showbiz. That makes me sound like I’ve got sour grapes or something, doesn’t it?
If you go to the Playboy interview page 4, you can read the context for Gary’s comments about Alec Baldwin and Mel Gibson, not that it makes that much of a difference. He really does use the n-word and all of that and he claims that people can’t take a joke and he’s not a bigot, etc. The Playboy interviewer barely had to lead him into it. He also talks for a bit about Heath Ledger, Phillips Seymour Hoffman and Tony Scott, but you get the idea.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
“You have to edit and cut half of what I’ve said, because it’s going to make me sound like a bigot”
Well if it walks like a duck….
Damn ducks. Ruining my fantasy husbands since 1999….
Ikr that about squelched it for me. I love (loved) me some Gary Oldman but the way my democracy is set up wont let me anymore.
Lol. +1
Haha! I see what you did there.
Ha! Ducks. It’s a conspiracy of aquatics.
He’s been sober 17 years — his hostility to the world sounds like a Dry Drunk.
If you stop using but don’t replace it with anything positive, you end up latching onto bigoted political beliefs or some other addiction. Racism IS an addiction in a way.
What’s very unattractive is that Self-Pitying quality he has, along with Gibson and Baldwin. Poor rich little white me. Very unappealing in a grown man.
call me crazy but I read the entire article and I can kind of see what he’s saying (even if I don’t agree with it 100%). he gives good interview and im not offended- only mildly entertained.
Yes I’m very liberal.
Yes I’m black.
Yes I’m a woman.
No, I am not offended.
Relax people, its called opinions and other people are allowed to have them (as long as it doesn’t harm other people…in my opinion).
And round and round it goes….
I really can’t say I disagree with much of what he says here in these excerpts.
The world is in a sorry state, and the good old US of A is losing its way.
Wake up, people, before you have no rights at all. Over & out.
He’s right that people are way too self-righteous these days, but he certainly expressed it in the worst way possible. Yikes!
Probably true
I think if you read the article you will see he didnt even start out saying that people are self-righteous. He was asked about Mel Gibson and he said that people should learn to take a joke. He probably realised that he had crossed a line and so he begins to pedal back using the “hypocrits” angle.
Incidentally, he was accompanied by his Manager and also long time business partner to the interview, Douglas Urbanski is closely associated to Rush Limbaugh and even sits in for him on his radio show. Going by the company Oldman keeps, I would be surprised if he WASNT an unapologetic bigot.
Yep. He could have made far better arguments regarding the hypocrisy in Hollywood but blew it badly.
I agree with you.. There are some points of the interview where I could not agree with him more, and then there are those moments when I thought, “WHOA, Gary!”
Strangely, I think his being so frank on some points – while inflammatory – is true. I love my mother, but I know as a Korean woman she has never had anything kind or balanced to say about the Chinese or Japanese. I live in Brooklyn and regularly hear come black people take anger out on any white person in earshot about any number of issues. Even my own husband tends to overexplain things to women more than he does to men, which is patronizing to no end. The thing is, I know my mother, my husband, and they are not inhumane monsters. THey are human. As a half-black woman, I understand the current inflammatory issue of gentrification and overall racism that probably has spurred the cutting racial comments from blacks towards whites. We are human. I
I think the overall message Oldman was conveying was that it’s not even about political correctness, but about political perfect-ness — and constantly being wary and censoring what one says for the fear of offending others is another prison all its own. Louis CK said on his show the other night that you know you truly love someone when you feel free to let your inner racist out, and it was funny to people because there was an element of truth of knowing we have flaws and prejudice is something very, very few people are innocent of. Even a gossip column has its fair share of premade judgments of other – do we know any of the people we are slamming on a personal basis? No.
We shouldn’t turn a blind eye to slurs, & defending the likes of Mel Gibson seems extreme and I believe he went too far…. but I have a hard time these days knowing what is offensive and what is not. A young woman told me the other day that calling a “Madras” cocktail (vodka w/ oj & cran) a “Mexican Madras” (switch out the vodka for tequila) was racist. I was taken aback, bc I found myself in the position of wanting to blurt out “but I’m not a racist!”
I won’t use the cocktail’s name again, but in a truly free society, how much censorship before it really oppressive? If Oldman is truly a Libertarian, I see why he’s over the PC movement.
I don’t even know how to being to answer this…and I say this with all sincerity and an open heart.
Regardless — what you did say, you said beautifully.
@Annaloo, I don’t think it was about political perfectness. Yeah, people can tie themselves into knots about certain language that wasn’t intended with malice, but the things that Mel Gibson said crossed over into a line that is absolutely abhorrent. And it wasn’t ONCE. It was multiple times. Acceptance of this type of speech as normalized ( gee give it a break) is what causes harassment and abuse of certain groups to be ignored, disregarded and accepted. I can’t say everyone has prejudice, but we all have bias. What we have grown up with culturally is going to seem better, for the most part, because it is familiar. That is not the same as spewing words in anger. Louis CK is a comedian. Mel Gibson uttered words to demonstrate his dominance. And yeah, maybe he was drunk, but it is what it is. I don’t see that saying those types of things are terrible, in the manner that he did, is hypocritical at all, especially if you, yourself, don’t partake in that.
One thing about the culture is that it is forgiving. Sometimes to a fault, due to a short attention span. I say this about politicians versus celebrities.
But there was nothing wrong with calling Gibson out on repeated instances. It still sounds like Gary agreed with it to a certain extent or contributed the same type of behavior at some point. As far as I know, no one was holding anything against him. And Mel Gibson is a millionaire several times over, so how the hell is he being persecuted? He can retire, make his own films and whatnot. Just because you’ve been in Hollywood doesn’t mean the public owes you fondness. Yes, people are hypocritical to some degree or another, but not necessarily as far as his specific example.
Sorry for the long wind.
People really need to stop bending over backwards trying to make sense of his lunacy. The only way you can force it to sound half-way reasonable is by ignoring many of the things he outrightly said. For instance that the doesnt blame Alec for calling someone the F word because he was irritated and over the stuff that Mel said, we should all just learn to take a joke.
@Red
Agree. As it stands, Gary doesn’t deserve his defenders.
Thank you Red! Voice of reason!
@Kiddo- -I definitely didn’t want to come across as exonerating Mel Gibson! Maybe I didn’t write it well or express it clearly, but I def think Gibson went too far. I was talking more about the shades of gray of how people tie themselves into knots about the perfect PC term — it can get exhausting, no matter how well intentioned you may be. I think most people – at heart – are good, and that we’re here -ultimately- to learn how to be higher versions of ourselves…but so much feels like a pitchfork and torchfire trial on many other people…I just think we forget that some of us who make a error in the words we choose are human. (now if you choose to repeat mistakes and offenses over and over again, then,yes, you deserve all the hell right back! )
Kiddo: accurate wind. Oh. That sounded like a terrible band name, but the sentiment remains.
In a way, yes, I agree with him. If Mel and Alec had sodomized a 13 year old child or molested their children, Hollywood would defend them and give them lifetime achievement awards. In fact, I have soften a bit on Mel only b’c he’s lesser evil than Polanski, Richardson and Allen. But do I feel sorry for them that their drunken rants got recorded by TMZ while others who shared the same sentiments were lucky enough to avoid that? Nope. Most people I know do not spew racial epithets or gay slurs when drunk.
Well put
No one owes you their love. I hate whingers, slightly more than a racist playing the victim role. I cann’t say the ni***r word without everyone hate. Poor me. Wah Wah Wah.
You know the people who would love you ? Other racist assh*le. You can all gather round calling each other ni**er and laughing yourself silly. Don’t know why you need to whinge about it.
P.s the right wing where defend dominique strauss Kahn and who would rather paid of an accuser than defend a civil law suit against rape.
P.s Clint Eastwood is right wing and he still gets awards and work.
@annaloo, I totally get what you’re saying. The other day I logged onto Facebook only to see 2 of my white friends having a “chola party,” complete with brown face, bandanas, tear drop tattoos and 40s. I read the comments under the picture and everyone found it hilarious. One white dude even used the term “beaner,” which put me over the edge. I refrained from commenting on the photo, but I ripped on the dude who used the racial epithet. I was seriously disappointed in their behavior but I couldn’t call them on it. I don’t think they’re racist, just stupid (but I will never look at them the same way, as I now know what they think of my culture).
Adrien, marry me.
Seriously. I too am perplexed that being financially conservative and believing in self proficiency gets you labeled as elitist, racist, sexist, Neanderthal etc.
While I do disagree with some of what GO says, I also agree with a lot of it as well.
I’m perplexed at the those who put people in one of two buckets — just like me in every way or the antithesis of my values — and who automatically rail against any hint of conservatism in anyway and labels people like me with extremist , divisive and inflammatory labels.
I believe in women’s rights to choose. Gays rights to marry and adopt and and and. But I also believe in self proficiency, entering the country legally, and a pro business economy. I also believe in having some self pride and restraint and dignity and character. Which isn’t usually found of any show that has the words “housewives of” in its title.
We are all entitled to opinions on all topics. A dissenting opinion on any one or two topics does not –or should I say should not — evoke images of the devil incarnate.
After yesterday, I’m afraid I no longer care what this vicious, petty excuse for a human being has to say.
They’re actors. A profession of people who act like another kind of person. And their image is thought out, packaged, and sold to us.
No one in hollywood is who we think they are.
What was that quote… Everyone has 3 lives. Public life, private life, and secret life…. who said that?
yeap.
i’d like to add “excuse for a human being with sociopathic tendencies” to that list (aka libertarian).
and i think dlisted hit the nail on the head on this one – how grand of yet another privileged white male to cry “oppression.”
He wasn’t crying oppression he was talking about people getting offended over nothing and people not being able to act like themselves. The way he worded his opinion sounded bad but he’s right just like a gossip sites like this or every other gossip sites. They all say how shitty one celebrity but then will carry on harassing them.
Also going straight to the privileged white male thing is so stupid and isn’t a good comeback to somebodies argument at all. What he’s white, has money and wants to state his opinion, he needs to check his privilege. You do know that not all white men were dealt with the same hand as Mitt Romney?
@GoodNamesAllTaken
Me neither. I agree with every single word you said!
He didn’t sound terrible in this portion.of the interview, but yesterday kind of killed it for me; not interested in delving further. And he has a platform, he’s speaking about his philosophy, so he’s a bit of an idiot for saying he doesn’t have a platform.
I was coming to type the same thing but you said it so I don’t have to.
+2
+3
“he’s a bit of an idiot for saying he doesn’t have a platform”
Yeah, that caught my eye too!
He says this, There’s a lot of nonsense behavior, especially in a place like Hollywood. The money, the power, they create little monsters.” – then defends Mel Gibson and Alec Baldwin. Now who’s the hypocrite?? Douche.
Great point!
Brava.
My head is spinning. WOW.
The above excerpt didn’t seem bad to me at all. Reality tv is mediocre and I imagine of what I’ve read of people in Hollywood that they would be very disrespectful to the service industry. I’ve seen regular people be rude to the service industry so I can’t imagine how rude most people would be if they had smoke blown up their ass 24/7, If the above is the worst of what he said I’m not blown away.
Absolutely. And if anything, I respect him more for speaking his mind. I can see where he is going with most of his comments, and more people should speak out.
There is too much pearl-clutching going around these days for every thing.
I agree with you. I think it’s also refreshing that someone says what they really think and not just a pr-light version that has no substance and is ultimately just more of the same and a big yawn. you can agree with what Oldman says or not, with parts of it, or all of it, or none of it but it certainly makes more interesting reading than many celebrity interviews. It also demonstrates a certain “fuck it, I’m old and grumpy and established and can say what I like” devil-may-care confidence. Re the whole Mel Gibson situation – I am not sticking up for anything Gibson said or did during his drunken rants but he was (is?) a violent alcoholic and having had one in my family, I can only say how out of control these people are of their thoughts (whether good or bad) and how dreadful it is to be in the vicinity of somebody like that.
Yeah, I suppose if you wrap hatred, bigotry, misogyny, and racist slurs up in a neat little package of “political correctness sucks, kids today are spoiled, and I’m just a grumpy old man, I get a pass” it does seem sort of refreshing…….
Except, no it doesn’t.
If you wrap a turd up in wrapping paper and a bow, it’s still just a turd.
He may have valid points and have the rocks to say it, but he uses horribly racist and bigoted people as examples and goes off the rails and sounds like an angry man that’s upset he may get called on his sh**.
+1 Jaderu
That wasn’t the worst of what he said.
I guess people should read the entire interview rather than just make a judgment based on snapshots taken out of context.
Amazing! Yesterday I read all those quotes, and my first thought was that he was way closer to his character from Contender than I thought. Now it turns out he wasn’t playing Shelly Runyon as a bigot, but as the essentially good misguided guy.
My issue with the libertarians: all well and good on your part until you need to call 911 –
Or drive on a paved road.
+ infinitum.
How can an actor be a libertarian? Unless you’re a mountain man living off the grid, who can truly be one? Is he writing all his own scripts? Doing all his own make-up? Lighting his own shots? Hell, who set this interview up for him?
lol
or use the internet (or any of the millions of things that research with fed money has given us). or eat food that isn’t contaminated with a billion things that will kill you. or drink water. or breathe air. or fly somewhere. or, you know, just LIVE. arrogant fools.
My issues with libertarians-they are all about wanting to be ‘left alone and no government’ unless of course you disagree with them or want to live your own life.
It’s not that they want to government (that’s anarchists) -they just want to be in charge of it and spend money on what THEY want. Same as any other political group.
Just like repubs and democrats [and any other party], libertarians have ‘shades of grey’. It’s not hypocritical to not agree with every single stance within a party, is it? You choose a platform that resonates most with your beliefs, given that we live in a modern society and said philosophy must be selectively applied. It’s worthwhile to discuss other perspectives, even if they seem unrealistic. Political philosophy is a useful dicussion. Or, you know, we can just continue having no discussion outside this 2 party joke of a system we have now. Cuz that’s going to continue to be real productive. [sarcasm].
That said, this oldman interview is just…wow. Not an intelligence philosophical discussion…that’s for sure.
Can I just say I 100% agree with him on Reality TV and Music, and Hollywood Monsters…? Hes not wrong.
Always happens. They pass into “out of touch grumpy person”. It’s a more offensive version of when Jonathan Franzen boo-hoo’d about eBooks. Or when some author complained that mobile phones were ruining his ability to plot a story.
like i said on the previous page —-
A privileged man crying for the “good ole days” when you could dehumanize another person by calling them derogitory names. Boo hoo rich man, cry into your millions that all the “Jews who run Hollywood” helped you earn. This homophobic, anti-semite lunatic can join the ranks of Mel & Alec as outcasts.
PS: He comes off so angry, anti-this & anti-that. What does he not dislike? If you hate life so much why even bother living? Jesus.
Exactly!
He doesn’t dislike calling people n-words and f-words. But no, I agree.
Well said.
Oh, dear. I did try to tell you guys yesterday!
You were, don’t think that it wasn’t appreciated.
You did indeed, Sixer.
I for one was glad you did! Maybe because he doesn’t do many interviews, I wasn’t aware of it.
I always got the impression he has in intense dislike for the Hollywood machine and a lot of the associated crap (and rightly so in some cases, I chuckled at him telling Miss Piggy on the BAFTA red carpet that she was the most real person he met on the press line) and that was fine but the other stuff…
Why be an actor if he dislikes Hollywood so much. Just get a regular job or only do Theatre or Broadway. He has millions in his banks so it’s not like he needs money desperately. If a female celeb said 1 of the MANY MANY MANY disgusting things this guy just complained about, everyone would be dissecting every single tiny fragment of her comments.
Yes you did and thanks for reminding us!
Gary, step off of the pope. Pope Francis is the best pope in decades. I guess he can’t fathom someone with humility,grace, and compassion.
I cannot disagree with his take on mediocrity and reality television and music.I also agree about the Golden Globes BUT I am someone who also thinks the Oscars are a farce too. I am just not an awards show lover, period.
I also agree with him about Charles Krauthammer. He is fair and very insightful. I just finished his book. The man has been through much but learned every step of the way.
Being Catholic, I do not agree with his Pope comment at all.
Of course he defends Mel Gibson. He’s a wife beater himself. Or are we to forget how he treat Uma Thurman and his kids mother because he’s put out some good movies.
Learning something new about this dbag everyday, apparently.
I just found out Uma was only 19 while he was in his 30s when they married. I’m afraid to ask about the domestic violence because my heart is already breaking over a teen Uma preyed on by this hateful scum. I do still have to ask though….. whats the story?
There is no story at all
and the stuff with his ex-wife was made up aswell, they were divorcing she wanted the kids and some money
I was under the impression (from all the gossip) that she was using him to get ahead. That he was the hot guy on the scene (back in the day) and she saw him as her ticket upwards. His leading man career didn’t really pan out, so she left him. I haven’t heard any gossip where she was the naive 19 year old, who got taken. Its the same thing Demi Moore did with Bruce Willis and I’m sure there are other examples.
Here you are…
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-71209/Garys-bitter-divorce-battle.html
I could not find anything about Uma Thurman, maybe it was too long ago….
Or maybe it didn’t happen.
Wow. His current wife is my age. WTF.
@grace
Yes, it couldn’t have happened….. I was only trying to find evidence for what was claimed by another poster :/ Uma Thurman has a bad taste in men anyway, violent or not… 🙁
Sir, have a seat right there. How about that empty chair right there owned by Clint Eastwood? You seem to share the same views on political correctness with Mr. Eastwood.
ITA.
Have we forgotten about Eastwood and his empty chair? Crazy-like-a-fox Voight? I cannot even remember the number of conservatives in Hollywood, so please, cry me a river Gary.
I love this man! Go Gary!!! He’s entitled to his opinions, no matter how repugnant they may be to others…
I like Gary too. He’s still a great actor.
Entitled to his opinions, a great actor, but a piece of sh-t human being from what I’ve been reading. And as he’s entitled to those opinions, I’m entitled to think he’s a moron.
@ Erinn
Yep.
LOL +2!!
Fine and correct but he’s pissing and moaning about other people’s opinions and rights to get offended by the likes of Gibson and Baldwin so he’s a hypocrite.
@ Pam
So basically you agree with his misogyny, racism and homophobia because when you typed, “Go Gary!!!”, you owned it.
He needs to get out more. Hollywood is an extremely small part of what happens in the world – these celebs seem to have a hard time acknowledging the real world, where lots of great (and terrible) things are happening.
He said that “everyone” uses the n-word and disparages other groups. He’s terribly mistaken on that count. Yup, there are loads of hypocrites, but come on, there are tons of people who would never utter OR THINK such things. If you get rid of celebs, politicians, and some pro athletes, you’ve gotten rid of a big part of the hypocrite problem.
Well there you have proof of how complicated people are. I hate most of the interview, but agree entirely on the “Reality TV and Music” and “Golden Globes” comments. Huh.
Obviously, conservatives in Hollywood do have a platform. You are standing on it now. Also, Libertarianism and Conservatism are to different animals. A true Libertarian would not be caught dead defending a conservative but Libertarianism has been co-opted by conservatives to a certain degree, especially in America.
Question: How many Libertarians does it take to change a light bulb?
Anwser: The libertarian doesn’t actually change the light bulb. The corporation that owns the light bulbs lets the free market decide how to change the light bulb and awards the bulb changing contract to the lowest bidder.
Like Jason Brennan said, “Libertarian philosophy is like a cockroach that scurries away once you shine the light of reason on it. “
Ha ha! Well said, Allheavens, well said.
So Gary’s view on foreign policiy is essentially “F**k diplomacy! Talking about something – that doesn’t work. Waste of money. Let’s not talk at all. Money saved. Hoorah!”
Man alive…
“Who’s the hero for young people today? Some idiot who can’t f–king sing or write or who’s shaking her ass and twerking in front of 11-year-olds.”
Says the once 31 year old guy who got together with a 19 year old Uma Thurman while still being married to his wife. Though I somewhat agree with his statement but I am getting mighty tired of rich, old men calling out what a proper women should be. And with his history of violence against women he should stop with the preaching already. Not to mention telling the Pope to “F off” is pretty vile. IF THIS WAS A FEMALE CELEB, SHE WOULD BE CRUCIFIED MERCILESSLY. Kstew doesn’t smile, Jlaw is too approachable, Anne H wants the Oscar too much. But Gary Oldman was being “real & being honest.”
@Starfan
I feel like you climbed into my brain, yanked out my jumbled up thoughts and put them into meaningful sentences. Thank you for this post.
Oh and he also trashes his own films in that interview, at length too. So add on to your list all the actresses people have beat down over just hinting the same on their own work,
@Red
Seriously, the hypocrisy is astounding here. I’m glad Kaiser at least didn’t back pedal & kept it straight forward. Kate Blanchett & Emma Stone get called all sorts of names for merely working with Woody while this vile piece of trash is an artiste who just doesn’t play the Hwood game ya know?
I agree with everything both of you wrote.
I’m seriously shocked considering that some actresses don’t even say anything close to what Gary said and they get about 10x more s-t thrown at them and he just gets all sorts of excuses ugh..
All true. But we kind of live in a world that says, ‘Well, at least he’s not Luc Besson’, and of Besson, ‘Well, at least he’s not Jerry Lee Lewis’, and of Lewis say, I don’t know… ‘Well, at least he didn’t direct The Day The Clown Cried.’ You’re never doing anything bad if someone is doing something worse. I told my mother once in high school, ‘I know I eat an appalling amount of candy, but at least I’m not on heroin.’ She laughed, but she said that is no argument. Though, to this day we kind of just expect candy from each other, so there goes my point.
God, can we stop romanticizing about the good old days? The days when my parents would have been charged with miscegenation, I would have had to go through a different door and most of us wouldn’t had the right to vote?
I can’t with this.
Amen! Whenever I hear people pine for ‘traditional values’ that’s exactly what i think.
Thank you. The good old days if your family resembled Ozzy and Harriet and lynching was OK, blowing up churches with little girls inside happened and you got charged for trying to vote. Romantic if you looked and sounded a certain way. I guess I am trying not to be angry, but my parents and ancestors suffered too much so that I can be sitting here in a fancy hotel that they were not allowed to enter, and have a high paying job they could never dream of.
People are allowed to have their opinions, speak freely without fear, and I am glad I live in a country that allows it. BUT, I am free to disagree and not spend my hard earned money on someone who speaks like he would not respect me as a human being. He can speak freely, but he also has to realize, there may be consequences.
@jen…totally got goosebumps reading your post. Way to break it down!
Just wanted to say how much I love your post, @Jen2. These points exactly.
@Jen2 Yes, Yes, Yes!!!
I hear you.
Can’t stand it when people say that things are worse now than they’ve ever been. Read a book for Pete’s sake!
Whoa nelly… has this guy ever captured the message of Sid Vicious or what? Street cred REVOKED.
A conservative group in Hollywood, shrouded in secrecy for fear of a backlash from powerful movie industry liberals as well the Feds, is being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service after applying for tax-exempt status.
“Friends of Abe” has attempted to stay under the radar and is fiercely determined to protect the identity of its 1,500 members, The New York Times reports.
But now the group has come under the scrutiny of the IRS after the federal agency requested detailed information about its meetings with politicians.
@Tippy
That’s what the IRS has been doing for years on both sides of the isle. But wing-nuts always need to be victims and I do mean ALWAYS.
That is the thing, Tippy. If an organization asks for tax exempt status, it should not be surprising if they are looked into because they are asking to be exempt from the taxes that other groups pay. You have to expect that, conservative or democrat, if you are asking for special privileges.
For example, some groups are allowed to be tax exempt as long as their entity is only 49% political, but not 50% political. It is a fine line to parse, so it takes scrutiny to find out if they have met the limit or passed it.
Not worth it
Ugh, nevermind.
@Teri
I am going to stop you right there with that new era of McCarthyism BS because it is an insult to those who truly suffered under McCarthyism.
Conservatives work in Hollywood as long as they can sell tickets or get ratings, (see Angie Harmon – “Rizzoli & Isles, Tom Selleck – Blue Bloods, JimCaviezel – Person of Interest, Patricia Heaton – actress, Gary Sinise – CSI NY, Oliver Stone – director, Clint Eastwood – actor, producer, director, Cindy Crawford – supermodel, entrepreneur, Jerry Bruckheimer – producer, Kid Rock – singer, Pat Sajak – game show host. Elisabeth Hasselbeck- talk show host), the list goes on and on.
All of these people have made a ton of money in Hollywood, have won Oscars and Emmys. The only time conservatives complain about “Liberal” Hollywood is when have an agenda to serve or their careers are faltering and they need something to blame other than the fact that their 15 minutes might be up.
The only thing Hollywood truly worships is a buck.
Yes. I love you!
No podium? So I suppose Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Fox and friends, and Bill O’Reilly are all figments of my imaginations.
“Conservatives have no podium in Hollywood”. Says a conservative. From his podium.
Seriously. Says the man to a major American publication, distributed all over the US, and published on the internet…*facepalm*
and everyone at samsung just sighs…and thinks….oh fudge….
Dear allheavens: I obviously don’t know who you are, but you are MAGNIFICENT! Such insightful comments.
I just wrote Gary Oldman off. I’m done with him and I don’t care what movie he makes.
Oh- and starfan, you’re pretty terrific too!
Dry Drunk Tirade? He says he’s been sober 17 years but his curmudgeonly attack on everything — “I look at the world, I look at our leadership and I look at every aspect of our culture and wonder what will make it better.” — doesn’t sound sober and in recovery.
It sounds like an addict who was able to quit but has nothing positive to replace the drugs. It needn’t be religion but it has to be something positive. Dwelling in so much negativity is as bad as using drugs.
Totally true!! Awesome post!
Why is this so bad again? I agree with everything he said.
Dear Gary,
I feel so sorry for you what with no podium to express your conservative views. There you are, in contact with Playboy and all they want you to do is answer questions about Mel Gibson and reality TV instead of exposing your whoha like the girls all get to do. Hollywood is just not fair to you white males, not asking you to pose for Playboy with your boobs and whoha exposed and all that.
You’re upset that Bill Maher has a talk show? Uhm, Gary, he does invite conservatives on his show and he does let them talk. The thing is he does ask questions and challenges those who answer idiotically. Is that your fear, Gary? That he’ll challenge you for sounding idiotic? Did he refuse to send you an invite to his show, Gary? Why don’t you call up HBO and ask if you can develop your own show to express your views? Somehow, I think they’ll take your call before they take mine. Or you could try Fox? You do know Bill O’Reilly has a show, right? And Dennis Miller turns up there from time to time?
Some advice, Gary, for dealing with the American public. Some of us do remember that Charlton Heston was the very vocal President of the NRA and that Sonny Bono, a conservative member of Hollywood, served in the U.S. House of Representatives and that Clint Eastwood was the Republican mayor of Carmel, CA, and that he famously talked to a chair during the last Republican National Convention in prime time and that Arnold Schwarzenegger was governor of California and that Fred Thompson served in the US Senate and ran for President of the United States and that Nancy Davis was First Lady and Ronald Reagan was governor of California and President of the United States. Those are rather large podiums, Gary, so you might want to stop whining.
Feel better,
Signed, a sufferer of ovarian cysts since puberty and proud, rejected occupant of one of those “binders full of women” who would never have a podium in Playboy unless they liked the naked pictures of my whoha.
Well said!
Don’t forget fomer Minnesota governor third-party candidate Jesse Ventura. He sounds pretty libertarian to me. He went off the grid (he keeps telling us) to hide from drones and to–at the behest of his friends–physically block Mexicans from crossing the border.
Cysts are awful, poor thing. I had a bunch rupture on me throughout the last year and there were points when I was convulsing in pain and not even Tylenol-3 helped.
Pepsi….Coke, so sorry you’ve endured them too. Yes, I forgot Ventura, which is funny because I gave my brother a Ventura doll as a joke gift one Christmas.
Eff me. I will no longer cross oceans of time to be with you, Draco.
He’s just a bundle of joy isn’t he? What a bore. The same old rants about lack of leadership. I would love to see some celebrities who love to talk politics actually talk about policies esp economic ones. Russell Brand’s one of the few who’s informed. As for criticising a visit to China, he sounds very clueless. I don’t like him. I think he’s actually really arrogant under all that grumpiness. You’re a good, sometimes great, actor, Gary Oldman. Act and stop stirring up negative publicity (does he have a film coming out soon?)
Having followed this story for the past couple of days, I really do think this was a well-timed thing for Planet of the Apes (the 4534th reboot of yet another franchise). I’m sure Oldman was being honest and truthful re his own views, but exaggeration and swearing is click bait and hence saves marketing dollars! He’s now “deeply remorseful.” Playboy wins, the film wins, Gary gets a few days in the headlines (and perhaps wins a few libertarian fans with his controversial views that aren’t quite strong enough to make it into the bigotry definition), and everyone forgets about it next week, after the movie establishes itself at the box office.
What a cynical world!
Last time I checked, Jon Voight, very vocal critic of Pres Obama is still working, Clint Eastwood, talking to chair guy at RNC convention is still making movies that people watch and enjoy afterward. Angie Harmon is vocal and doing shows. Jerry Bruckheimer is a very successful producer and Adam Sandler, though his movies bomb is still doing movies.
Good job Gary Oldman on your self victimization.
Good job you named the only 5 conservatives in Hollywood, bravo. I think what he is saying is that they are WAY outnumbered, and I agree. The actresses and actors are always attendees at all of Obamas events, and god knows the media is cheering him on- regardless of questions arising regarding Bengazi, the release of 5 Guatanomo prisoners, and the very latest….the IRS “losing” all emails (and the actual computer) of emails exchanged regarding targeting conservatives.
Bruce Willis is also openly conservative.
That whole “we’re outnumbered and disrespected here in Hollywood” is just another ridiculous script that doesn’t become true just because they repeat it endlessly. As far as Oldmam is concerned, how many films has he made OUTSIDE of Hollywood? England is not part of Hollywood, Gary. And let’s see there is also: Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris, Patricia Heaton, Kelsey Grammar, Nick Searcy, Adam Baldwin, Stephen Baldwin, Kirk Cameron, Victoria Jackson, Stacey Dash, Dennis Miller, Susan Lucci, Tom Selleck, Sylvester Stallone, Vince Vaughn, James Woods, Pat Sajak, Ben Stein, Alex Trebak, Drew Carey, Gary Sinise, Jessica Simpson, Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Joan Rivers, Bo Derek and John Corbett, Jerry Bruckheimer, Cindy Crawford, Alice Cooper, Robert Duval, Terry Hatcher, Tony Danza, Andy Garcia. I have no clue what the political leanings of most celebrities are and I really don’t care but this is just a small sampling of those who have been quite vocal about their political beliefs. And then, there’s most of Nashville.
okay, those are the conservatives, and everyone else is otherwise. what is your point? The people you listed don’t walk around saying we are outnumbered! we are outnumbered! Have you ever seen them do that? Plus, I don’t even think some of your names are correct. For instance, Bruce Willis voted for Obama in the last election and has an article in Politico about how he couldn’t stand Romney…made too much money…but by the way, Hillary was “dead broke” when she left the white house….and Chelsea Clinton doesn’t even LIKE money, have you heard that one yet? By the way, where the heck are the IRS emails? Oh yah. The computer broke. I always recycle my computer when it breaks too, and also break the 6 other people investigated too, coincidence.
No, everyone else is not otherwise and yes, most of those I listed most certainly do walk around screaming that they are outnumbered. I worked for Romney, don’t get me started about missing emails.
How the hell can he talk about how people aren’t respectful, and then say f**k the Pope? What did I just read?
I worked in politics on the government level for a decade, and in H’wood for about 4 yrs. They are all notorious for saying one thing, living another. I don’t care what celebs say, one way or another. Their ideologies , or the ones they claim to hold, are meaningless to me, whether I agree or disagree. I also don’t identify with any political groups now. Very freeing.