George Takei, known for his role in "Star Trek," was among those speaking out, writing on Threads, “Silence is complicity.” Actor Wil Wheaton replied to Takei's post, calling Johnson “such a coward.”
Johnson, who is on a global press tour for Disney's live-action “Moana” film, previously stated in 2024 that he regretted endorsing Joe Biden for president in 2020. At the time, he told Fox News, “My goal is to bring this country together. I believe in that. There will be no endorsement. At this level of influence, I will keep my politics to myself. It is between me and the ballot box.”
Johnson's Reasoning for Political Silence
“What I have learned through experience is that I need to keep, need, not want, the main thing. And the main thing for me, the thing that in the morning I swing my legs out of bed and I run towards is creating. It’s art. It’s storytelling. I’ve learned I’m going to keep my politics to myself. There are moments when, hey, there’s nothing we can’t talk about. If I’m wrong, I’ll tell you I’m wrong. Or if I feel like I got a leg up and this is the right way to go, I’ll share it with you. Politics is omnipresent and it’s forever. I don’t like it. I hate it at times. I hate the slinging. I hate all the bullshit that comes with it.”
Jennifer Lawrence's Similar Stance
Actress Jennifer Lawrence also faced scrutiny last fall during the press tour for “Die My Love” when she discussed her own resistance to talking about politics with The New York Times. Lawrence, who was outspoken against Donald Trump during his first term as U.S. president, wrote an op-ed after the 2016 election stating that Trump’s victory meant “the only people that feel safe [in America], that their rights are recognized and respected are white men.”
When asked about her current thoughts on speaking out politically, Lawrence responded:
“I don’t really know if I should. The first Trump administration was so wild and just how can we let this stand? I felt like I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off. But as we’ve learned, election after election, celebrities do not make a difference whatsoever on who people vote for. So then what am I doing? I’m just sharing my opinion on something that’s going to add fuel to a fire that’s ripping the country apart. We are so divided.”
Lawrence continued, explaining her perspective as an artist:
“I think I’m in a complicated recalibration because I’m also an artist. With this temperature and the way things can turn out, I don’t want to start turning people off to films and to art that could change consciousness or change the world because they don’t like my political opinions. I want to protect my craft so that you can still get lost in what I’m doing. And if I can’t say something that’s going to speak to some kind of peace or lowering the temperature or some sort of solution, I don’t want to be a part of the problem. I don’t want to make the problem worse… You watch these actors’ faces who have had incredible careers and made incredible contributions and then one half of the internet doesn’t want to see their face anymore. I get so upset for those people and it feels so wrong.”
Lawrence noted that she expresses her political beliefs through her work, citing projects from her production company such as “Bread and Roses,” which focuses on women in Afghanistan following the 2021 Taliban offensive, and the documentary “Zurawski v Texas.” She stated:
“I try to express my
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