In the midst of the Trump administration’s family separation horror show, showrunners and producers who work for Fox are speaking out against the network’s news channel. In a series of tweets, Judd Apatow called on people in power to speak out against their parent company and Rupert Murdoch for engineering a network of propaganda and dishonest reporting. Apatow tweeted:
I haven’t worked with Fox since 2002. That family promotes evil ideas and greed and corruption. We all choose who to work with. I understand why that is easier for some than others but many powerful people are powerful enough to speak up to their bosses at a moment like this. https://t.co/8NtsqsR8Xj
— Judd Apatow (@JuddApatow) June 18, 2018
He is a fucking kidnapper! The Murdoch’s support these policies ! Where are the Fox stars and executives speaking up?! Imagine if it was your kids. Who has a movie, TV show, sporting event, news show at Fox? How can you remain silent when they promote these policies? https://t.co/jrPVKrxK6n
— Judd Apatow (@JuddApatow) June 18, 2018
And I haven’t seen one new powerful person who works for or at Fox stand up and say they oppose their support of these cruel policies. Not one. Fox is like the NRA to politicians. If they said this is too far the President would stop this monsterous behavior. https://t.co/MufV1iQXxs
— Judd Apatow (@JuddApatow) June 18, 2018
Apatow continued, saying “Fox stars and show runners should speak up! Journalists and athletes should speak up! Maybe their executives should speak up! @SethMacFarlane can’t be the only one with a conscience. If EVERY Fox Star and show runner said this policy was evil and protested to the Murdoch family it would make a huge difference in this national debate.” Apatow was referring to MacFarlane’s tweet about being embarrassed to work for Fox, the home of Family Guy and The Orville.
In other words, don’t think critically, don’t consult multiple news sources, and in general, don’t use your brain. Just blindly obey Fox News. This is fringe shit, and it’s business like this that makes me embarrassed to work for this company. https://t.co/kC7MPYxdgZ
— Seth MacFarlane (@SethMacFarlane) June 16, 2018
Following Apatow’s call to action, Modern Family co-creator Steve Levitan joined the conversation, saying:
Let me officially join @SethMacFarlane in saying I’m disgusted to work at a company that has anything whatsoever to do with @FoxNews. This bullshit is the opposite of what #ModernFamily stands for. https://t.co/dnvIbgoIyA
— Steve Levitan (@SteveLevitan) June 19, 2018
Director Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, Ghostbusters) chimed in as well to condemn Fox news.
I have made two films for 20th Century Fox and love the people in the movie and TV divisions. But I too cannot condone the support their news division promotes toward the immoral and abusive policies and actions taken by this current administration toward immigrant children. https://t.co/6JqIQPjepV
— Paul Feig (@paulfeig) June 19, 2018
These statements are an important step in condemning the Murdoch family and the Fox News cabal, but is it empty virtue signaling? It’s hard to sympathize with multi-millionaires who tweet with one hand and cash checks with the other. But they are in an impossible position: while these men have the clout and resources to walk away, they are still beholden to the contracts they’ve signed with Fox. Furthermore, their actions can jeopardize the livelihoods of the hundreds of employees working for them, whose survival depends on these productions.
Talk is just talk without action. I would love to see these very wealthy men put their money where their mouth is and donate to RAICES, the ACLU, or the campaigns of democrats looking to unseat republicans in the midterm elections. Many already are. The bottom line is, money talks, and democrats need their own counterparts to the Koch brothers and the Sheldon Adelsons of the world. To the giants of Hollywood and tech, we’re looking at you.
(via The Hollywood Reporter, image: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!
—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—
