Actors Use SAG Awards To Admonish Trump For His Muslim Ban (VIDEO)

By
Spencer Joie
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Shortly after Meryl Streep gave her rousing speech at the Golden Globes earlier this month, in which she chastised now President Donald Trump in all but name, the movement among the alt-right began calling actors to stick to their day jobs and stay out of politics.

However, that movement seemed to have no impact on the actors who were honored at this years Screen Actors Guild awards. The SAG awards proved to be an arena of support and solidarity with those affected by President Trump’s recent ban on visas and entry for those originating from seven Muslim-majority countries.

Honorees and attendees made efforts to speak out on the ban in various ways. Big Bang Theory actor, Simon Helberg showed up to the red carpet event with a sign saying, “Refugees Welcome,” while his wife Jocelyn Towne sported written words on her chest that read, “Let Them In.”

Actor Ashton Kutcher started the political commentary early that evening welcoming:

“…fellow SAG-AFTRA members, and everyone at home, and everyone in airports that belong in my America. You are a part of the fabric of who we are. And we love you and we welcome you.”

Earlier in the day Kutcher tweeted that his “blood is boiling” over news of the ban, commenting that his wife -actress Mila Kunis- “came to this country on a refugee visa in the middle of the cold war.”

Kutcher was not the only actor who spoke their mind that evening. Actress Julia-Louis Dreyfus took home the award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series for her role in the HBO Series Veep, but not before taking a couple of jabs at the ban herself. Poking fun at President Trump’s miscalculated attendance recollection of his Inauguration Day, she said:

“I look out on the million or even a million-and-a-half people in this room, and I say this award is legitimate, and I won! I’m the winner, the winner is me, landslide.”

“I want you all to know that I am the daughter of an immigrant. My father fled religious persecution in Nazi-occupied France. And I am an American patriot, and I love this country. And because I love this country I am horrified by its blemishes. And this immigrant ban is a blemish and it is un-American,”

Likening the state of the nation to his sleeper hit show, actor David Harbour made a rousing speech promising to “repel bullies” and “shelter freaks and outcasts, those who have no home,” after he and his cast mates from Netflix’s Stranger Things won the award for best cast in a drama series.

He added that:

“…we will hunt monsters, and when we are at a loss amidst the hypocrisy and the casual violence of certain individuals and institutions, we will, as per chief Jim Hopper, punch some people in the face when they seek to destroy the weak and the disenfranchised and the marginalized and we will do it all with soul with heart and with joy.”

 

There were many more speeches that touched on the ban, proving that the guild members weren’t afraid of the repercussions that could come in the form of a “Presidential” tweet.

The White House likes to state alternative facts, like actors have no place in politics, but they forget that actors are citizens too. They are just as much affected and disheartened by acts of blatant discrimination as the average American citizen. Becoming an entertainer does not mean that one no longer has the protection and right to freedom of speech.

Scandal actress Kerry Washington stated during the opening of the awards:

“A lot of people are saying right now that actors shouldn’t express their opinions when it comes to politics, but the truth is actors are activists no matter what, because we embody the worth and humanity of all people.”

To that I give a standing ovation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bUILD73ZzQ

Featured image from broadcast of Red Carpet.

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