Linda Ronstadt’s in the news for the first time since about 1985. And the news isn’t good:
US singer Linda Ronstadt was booed off the stage and kicked out of a Las Vegas casino after praising polemical filmmaker Michael Moore's film "Fahrenheit 9/11," the casino said…According to local media, members of the 4,500-strong audience stormed out of the concert hall, tore down concert posters and tossed cocktails into the air.
See, now that’s just rude. I usually just laugh in people’s faces when I hear them praising Michael Moore.
Speaking of overreactions to celebrities’ political beliefs, Sheila has a post on that topic today, discussing both the Ronstadt thing and Whoopi Goldberg's recent firing from her Slim-Fast endorsement deal after making off-color jokes about the president at a fundraiser.
Here's what I don't get about the whole Hollywood-bashing thing. The usual argument from the Joe Scarborough types is something along the lines of "those Hollywood liberals should just shut up- who cares what they have to say?" To which I normally reply that yes, some of them are dumb, but while Hollywood people aren't any more worthy of attention for their political beliefs than anyone else, they're also under no more obligation to "shut up" than the average individual either.
But here's my question about the Whoopi incident: her vulgar commentary routine was given at a private fundraiser that was not televised, and would in all likelihood have not been noticed at all- except the New York Post put the story on their front page the next day, and since been discussed by every conservative talk show host in the country. Why? If the political opinions of such celebrities are so "irrelevent," why must they be trumpeted to the skies by the right?
I don't see why they can't just ignore the bleatings of celebrities they can't stand; I myself have been ignoring Whoopi Goldberg since about 1989.
Posted by Stephen Silver at July 20, 2004 09:45 PM