Tinseltown rolls out the red carpet for new leading man

There is a new cultural zeitgeist in town and it has left actors, singers and film execs reeling. Stephen Armstrong reports on the vibe shift to the right since Trump’s election triumph

-  Stephen Armstrong

It’s hard being a liberal in Hollywood right now. They’re disorientated and confused. Richard Rushfield, editor of insider newsletter The Ankler, wrote a despairing screed the day after Trump’s inauguration: “We are not part of the ruling coalition here. We do not speak from a place of dictating to America how things are going to be or demanding they follow our lead – or else. In particular, no one is looking to hear more from Hollywood.”

As if to prove his point, last week Selena Gomez posted an Instagram story where she wept about the plight of immigrants under Trump. The backlash was so intense that she deleted it, adding, “Apparently it’s not OK to show empathy.”

This was the election that Hollywood thought it could win with its vibes-based Brat summer. Kamala Harris was heavily boosted by star power from George Clooney and Bruce Springsteen to Oprah Winfrey and Billie Eilish. all the way through to Barbra Streisand… the roll call is long and includes Michael Keaton, Leonardo DiCaprio, Julia Roberts, Eva Longoria, Jennifer Aniston and Cardi B. Even California’s Republican former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger voted Harris/Walz. But it turns out popular right-wing podcasters Joe Rogan and Theo Von hold more cultural sway than Taylor Swift and Beyonce.

LA is a febrile place right now. Even the fires have failed to unite the fractured community. It has just come through its #MeToo era when it put some previously untouchable predatory men in jail. Then came the cash freeze of the pandemic and the 2021 Golden Globes boycott, where stars and publicists refused to show up because none of the voters were black.

In 2023, two tough strikes saw writers and actors join forces on union picket lines, giving the mutinous workforce a sense of unity. David Zaslav, the boss of Warner Bros and a pro-Trump millionaire, became public enemy number one.