“If you do win an award tonight, please don’t use it as a platform for a political speech: you know nothing about the real world, most of you spent less time at school than Greta Thumberg, so if you win, come up, accept your little award, thank your agent and your God and fuck off…
Ricky Gervais, Golden Globes 2020
The Trump effect on wokeism in the US
It was quite clear to everyone that woke ideology in the United States would have a hard time after Trump’s re-election, and indeed, the growing intolerance of large sections of the population towards the most extreme practices of this school of thought was a significant factor in the Republican billionaire’s overwhelming success in November 2024. However, it was completely illusory to think that ideas so pervasively ingrained in the main centers of cultural production, such as universities, schools, the publishing world, and cinema, could surrender to the return of common sense and rationality in just a few months. This was all the more true considering that the progressive minorities, defeated at the polls but still very powerful in the worlds of finance, media, and entertainment, would use woke rhetoric—from rainbow rights to immigration, from climate catastrophism to “inclusive” language – as the last line of resistance against the hated demands of MAGA populism, which had already been effectively neutralized during Trump’s first term.
The first months of the Republican presidency, confirming this prediction, saw the radical left react with every means at its disposal to the measures and positions taken by the new administration in the areas where their hegemony had been most strongly established. In this sense, the systematic dismantling of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) policies and the related dismissal or layoff of personnel hired on the basis of these “affirmative action” criteria were the first test of the conflict and clearly indicated the path that Trump and his deputy J.D. Vance, who is particularly committed to these issues, intended to pursue.
As was to be expected, the resistance was organized primarily by the media and political apparatus of the Democrats, who for years (first during Obama’s two terms, then during Biden’s four years) supported significant public funding aimed at promoting inclusion policies that were totally counterproductive to the interests of American citizens, as demonstrated by the cases of top positions in the police force or the armed forces being given to people who lacked the minimum physical and aptitude requirements to perform such tasks.
Resistance from actors, singers, and VIPs
But the environment that initially appeared completely impervious to the new course was that of entertainment and cinema, which has always been almost unanimously opposed to Trump and his voters. This was confirmed by the countless statements in favor of the Democrats coming from Hollywood in the weeks leading up to the election, which, moreover, confirmed once again that people’s votes are completely independent of the positions of celebrities. In fact, it is no exaggeration to say that these statements now have the opposite effect, ultimately broadening the support base of those who are attacked and demonized by billionaire stars who seem increasingly distant from the concerns of the vast majority of citizens.
The fact remains that ceremonies such as the Oscars or the Golden Globes for cinema or the Grammy Awards for music have for years been an opportunity for the most cloying and rhetorical celebration of all the claims of globalist and rainbow progressivism. In this context, every artist called onto the stage feels compelled to spread their political message and express themselves not for their acting or singing skills, but for their degree of adherence to the ‘battles’ of the radical left.
A few years ago, Ricki Gervais, a very famous English actor and comedian but essentially a stranger to the Hollywood scene, threw a very heavy stone into the lake of liberal conformity. At the 2020 Golden Globes ceremony, his opening monologue, while comical and satirical in tone as befitted the occasion, struck a harsh blow against the hypocrisy of the audience of billionaire actors before him. His explicit invitation to avoid the usual political statements, which no one is interested in (“because you know nothing about real life”), was a gesture as unexpected as it was brutally authentic, bringing a slice of truth into that room that none of those present expected to hear.
Little or nothing seemed to have changed after that episode. The stars continued to celebrate themselves, to denigrate Trump’s crude and ignorant voters, to extol all gender theories, and to praise the influx of young immigrants to gradually replace the aging and conservative white population. Yet, behind this script repeated ad nauseam, there were now clear signs of fatigue, and a dangerous feeling was spreading that Americans’ impatience and annoyance with the elitist and arrogant attitudes of this privileged world and their unbearable preaching was growing exponentially.
Billie Eilish’s momentous gaffe
And so, in a way, what happened at the Grammy Awards on February 1 could have been imagined, but certainly not in the sensational manner in which it occurred. Singer Billie Eilish, who took the stage to accept her award, obviously recited her inevitable progressive political rant. Taking her cue from the heated controversy that had been raging for days over the actions of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents in Minneapolis—where the crackdown on illegal immigration had led to riots, arrests, and the deaths of two left-wing activists—Eilish did not limit herself to condemning the government’s actions, but wanted to express her thoughts on immigration with a disruptive statement: “No one is illegal on stolen land.”
Greeted with applause and ovations from the entire VIP audience at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, the bold statement quickly made its way around the world via the web, and within a few hours sparked harsh reactions from citizens across the country. Not only criticism, as fierce as it was legitimate, but unfortunately also insults and threats flooded social media channels, soon accompanied by condemnation from countless influencers and journalists. Within a couple of days, the singer had to realize that she had really crossed a line, that of gratuitous and senseless offense to an entire people, whom she, with unprecedented superficiality, had essentially accused of living illegally in her own country.
When some reporters showed up at the gate of her villa (estimated to be worth around $14 million) to interview her, they found armored gates and security guards, confirming the fact that those committed to shouting “No to borders” generally live inside impregnable forts where borders not only exist but are also defended, if necessary, with weapons.
However, it was difficult to imagine a more serious gaffe, capable not only of destroying much of the popularity of a star acclaimed by millions of fans, but also of hitting her hard in the following days in other, no less important ways. Major brands that had signed million-dollar sponsorship deals with Eilish quickly backed out, given the huge wave of aversion that hit the star.
Finally, the only people who had the right to respond to the singer’s statement joined the controversy, namely the representatives of the Tongva tribe, who, as the first historically documented inhabitants of the Los Angeles area, ironically pointed out that the singer had not contacted them to discuss her extensive real estate holdings, which stand on land taken—or rather stolen, to use Eilish’s words .
On the same evening, which was truly disastrous for the circle of globalist and liberal billionaire artists, host Trevor Noah received thunderous applause for a terrible joke about Trump, in which he explicitly alluded to the American president’s participation in parties on Jeffrey Epstein’s infamous island. Shortly thereafter, Trump released a statement announcing a million-dollar defamation lawsuit against the presenter.
In short, none of these representatives of the privileged world of entertainment took seriously the advice given to them in 2020 by Ricky Gervais (“accept your award and fuck off”). Instead, they once again chose to give voice to their left-wing rhetoric, which is hypocritical and increasingly unpalatable to ordinary people, and now they may have more than one reason to regret it.
The woke progressivism of Italian artists
If we shift our attention to the Italian art world’s relationship with woke and progressive ideology, the considerations are very similar to those that apply to the American scene, although, of course, we are talking about levels of wealth and popularity that are not even remotely comparable. It should also be said that cinema and music in our country are sectors that are partly supported by significant public funding, and that when we hear a political statement by Germano, Gassman, or Virzì against the “fascist” government, we must never forget that without that support, their films would never make it to the theaters and some of them would probably have to find another job.
That said, the mechanism of uncritical adherence to everything that opposes the evil populists and sovereignists and of claiming to belong to the left—sometimes the institutional left, but more often the social center—is exactly the same as that practiced in the United States. The most recent opportunity is the referendum campaign for the Nordio reform of the justice system, and it must be said that comedians, actors, and singers have gone to great lengths to support their “No” vote.
Personalities such as PIF, Elio, Daniele Silvestri, Nicola Piovani, and even Nanni Moretti have taken the field to demonstrate their fierce opposition to the right-wing government’s reform, becoming almost didactic interpreters of that left-wing conformism that disregards any assessment of the merits of the issues and limits itself to relaunching superficial and misleading slogans, or outright falsehoods (such as the claim that the reform would subject prosecutors to the government). Their only goal is, as always, to stamp their membership of the left, certainly for ideological reasons, but also, if not above all, for reasons of professional convenience, since in our country, artists who are not aligned with the ‘good guys’ are destined for total marginalization, if not media stoning.
Many of these artists, so apparently sensitive to the issues of freedom and equality, have been at the forefront of defending freedom-destroying measures such as the green pass or lockdowns during the sad years of the pandemic, and of insulting and pillorying the very few in their world who dared to raise doubts (among whom we remember Ruggeri and Montesano, who suffered serious professional consequences as a result). We have also been able to admire the spectacle of the most rebellious rock icons wearing masks and lecturing Italians, convincing them of the effectiveness of the vaccine and praising the police state measure that required a pass to leave the house.
Never before has the famous double standard of the left and its activists emerged in all its glory: whatever is decided by a ‘friendly’ government is fine in any case, even if it tramples on the rights guaranteed by the constitution with impunity, while any measure adopted by an opposing executive must be opposed at all costs, whatever its content.
The person who represents the very personification of artistic ‘radical chic’, Toni Servillo (a top-level actor, but so self-referential as to arouse feelings of sincere antipathy in many), did not want to miss out on the count of artists for the ‘No’ vote, and decided to join the ‘No’ campaign without having the slightest idea what the question was about. Nevertheless, he wanted to justify his vote with a statement that, avoiding any reference to the rules, instead attempts to influence the public by resorting to the usual PD-style rhetoric: “The real hidden objective of the Nordio reform is to weaken the action of the judiciary in its function of control and legality vis-à-vis public authorities, in line with what is happening in America or Hungary.” It would be futile to point out to him that the unification of the careers of judges and prosecutors was the work of fascism, with a measure introduced by Minister of Justice Grandi. He would not change his proclamation one iota, since for him, as for all left-wing intellectuals of this unfortunate era, facts are negligible details; what matters is the right “narrative,” and all the better if it manages to demonize the Nordio reform in an authoritarian key, suggesting connections—completely non-existent—with the very bad governments of Trump and Orban.
This, after all, is the method regularly used by the left to discredit and delegitimize any initiative coming from their opponents, which is indeed a huge problem for our democracy. This is in contrast to the phantom “fascist danger” evoked daily by columnists and supposed progressive intellectuals, which only people blinded by ideology and ignorance can still believe.
Photo: CC 2.0 by SA crommelincklars