Fox Business host attacks striking actors and writers, praises Hollywood studio executives
Larry Kudlow: “Well, it’s good to know that when push comes to shove, [Disney CEO Bob] Iger is behaving like a true capitalist, despite the ultra-woke leanings of his company”
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From the July 14, 2023, edition of Fox Business’ Kudlow
LARRY KUDLOW (HOST): So, Hollywood is going on strike. Now, my first reaction is, who cares? America’s going to be for the better for it — 95% of their products are awful, bunch of left-wing drivel. They hate America, they’re completely woke, they’re among the biggest supporters of the COVID shutdown, wanted to keep America shut down long past the virus threat.
Let me quote from a tough article written by John Nolte of Breitbart, quote, “Why would I mourn the shutdown of multibillion-dollar industry dedicated to hating me, grooming children, destroying my heroes, lying about my country, championing fascism, and taking pride and wasting everyone’s precious time with a product that rarely rises to mediocre?” Alright, end-quote, John Nolte of Breitbart.
But, folks, I will say nothing in life is all bad, OK? For context, the actors and writers have come together against the producers. So, the writers create, develop, and pitch content, the producers are the group of folks in Hollywood who pay the people in the other group. Hat-tip to my longtime pal Rob Long for that simple but good definition. To be precise, the Screen Actor’s Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists have allied with the Writers’ Guild of America, and they’re going to fight the big shot, ultra-wealthy producers.
Now, I do understand that the writers are worried about their royalties and residuals. I’ve been in that position myself. I was also a SAG member for a period of time. So to a small extent, I feel their pain. Also, the content producers, aka the writers, are worried about being replaced by AI and ChatGPT. Now, interestingly, even though the whole Hollywood crowd loves Joe Biden, the strikers are blaming Bidenflation for their walkout. Ha-ha-ha — I find that very amusing. Now, Disney CEO Bob Iger thinks the money demands of the writers are way out of touch.
Well, it’s good to know that when push comes to shove, Mr. Iger is behaving like a true capitalist, despite the ultra-woke leanings of his company. You know, scratch a Hollywood CEO producer big shot deep enough, you’ll always find a bit of a class-warfare capitalist — kind of like the Gilded Age, huh? Ha-ha-ha, just having some fun here.
But there’s no question the actors’ compensation is way out of touch with any reality anyone can ever think of. Most of them are awful, and their movies are just as bad, and they get paid gigantic sums. Now, the capitalist producers are of course very worried about their writers and actors, because some of these summer blockbusters won’t be released, or if they are released, they won’t be promoed properly because the actors are on strike.
Folks in the know say Oppenheimer will come out, but Mission Impossible and Deadpool will not come out — I wouldn’t have watched any of them, anyway. Now, Barbie comes out next week, and thankfully, I’m told that Barbie is still going to be Barbie, and Ken is still going to be Ken. You know what I mean. I am relieved at this news, though I will not watch the movie.
Now, look, I’m not so curmudgeonly about the movie business. I really love A Spy Among Friends, love it. Starring Damian Lewis and Guy Pierce, I mean two of the absolutely fabulous, best actors. And of course, like every red-blooded conservative in America, I love Yellowstone, and just about every actor in that production. So, I’m not going to bore you with my other movie favorites, because frankly I want to watch this show, and anyway I don’t have that many favorites.
Finally, the striking actors and writers who are complaining about Bidenflation could really win me over. I mean, I’d actually watch many more of their heretofore lousy flicks, if they’d have a good six- or eight-part series attacking all of Bidenomics. All the spending and borrowing and taxing and regulating and inflating. Just one good, well-acted, multipart series slamming Biden’s bottomless Pinocchios and economy-wrecking crew. Because the only plus in this Hollywood strike story to me is that they are blaming Biden’s inflation. That’s good. Hollywood, you got one right. Now it’s time for you to finish the analysis. Join the rest of America, which is increasingly on strike against Biden. And that is my riff.