Bizarre, Free Speech, Politics

“Feeling Patriotic”: James Wood Allegedly Dropped By Agent For Conservative Views

362px-Fourth_of_July_fireworks_behind_the_Washington_Monument,_1986Talent agent Ken Kaplan has a curious way of celebrating the Fourth of July.  According to James Wood, Kaplan used the holiday celebrating a nation committed to free speech and self-determination by publicly dropping the actor for his conservative views.  He said dropping an artist for his political views makes him feel “patriotic.”  Notably, none of the artists represented by Kaplan protested the discrimination against a fellow artists for political reasons.

Kaplan went to his Twitter account during the holiday and declared  “It’s the 4th of July and I’m feeling patriotic. I don’t want to represent you anymore. I mean I can go on a rant but you know what I’d say.”

Woods responded with an apt point:

 

Woods previously said that he was “blacklisted” from jobs due to his politics.

His two Academy Award nominations and three Emmy Awards or decades in movies does not appear to be enough to overcome that bias.

My main interest is how other artists represented by Kaplan would remain silent in the face of such an action.  Countless movies and books  have been done on the blacklisting of communists in Hollywood but somehow the thought of a conservative being dropped by studios or agents is not considered an attack on the art community as a whole.  If Kaplan imposed a political litmus test, his pride in the public scorning of Woods should be met with equally public condemnations of Kaplan from other artists.

98 thoughts on ““Feeling Patriotic”: James Wood Allegedly Dropped By Agent For Conservative Views”

  1. Let’s just see how well this agent fares in the future when new actors don’t want to take a risk of hiring him and he abandons them on a whim. He’s not worth the risk.

  2. Gosh. A thread on which the comments mostly stayed on topic.

    Will wonders never cease!

  3. Maybe James Woods can hire Alan Dershowitz to be his lawyer?

  4. Olly, the 4th of July is a liberal’s holiday. I distinctly was told by someone who chimes in on this blog that the founding fathers were liberals, and the created this country on liberal principles. Washington, Franklin, John Hancock, these guys would fit right in with the Hollywood elite crowd. They might have been slave owners but Hollywood is nothing but a modern plantation. Yes massa I agree with your political philosophies, now can I have my job back?

    2. The founders were liberals.
      Liberal meant something radically different than it does today.

      It was closest to “libertarian”

  5. The Left proves once again it does not value diversity of opinion. Hollywood helped mainstream the shunning of conservatives while it enabled Weinstein.

    1. There is also a scandal where those filming a pro-life movie are getting harassed, losing locations and talent.

      Whatever happened to telling stories from different perspectives?

    2. Weinstein might be a lecherous predator, but he’s THEIR lecherous predator.

  6. Talent agent Ken Kaplan,

    Political Officer of the Communist Party.

    Where the —- is Joseph McCarthy when you need him?

    GIGO.

    If only communists are put into Hollywood,

    only communism can come out of Hollywood.

    Is the product of Hollywood propaganda for purposes of indoctrination?

    Exercise in logic: If Africans are 12% of the population, why are Africans in 100% of the scenes in movies and on TV?

    Is the American public supposed to know something that is not knowable as fact?

    Like the frog being slowly boiled to death, America is, as yet, unaware that it is being slowly boiled to death.

    1. Reminds me of President Donald J. Trump and “Lil Rocket Man” in President-For-Life Xi Jinping’s Beijing Communist HQ.

      “Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much

      bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!”

  8. Given the theme of this JT column and the experience of James Woods, it’s especially appropriate and timely that we have one who posts with the username “Hollywood”.

      1. I sometimes wonder which of our partisan Democrats on this board has been getting piece rate from Correct the Record.

  9. Woods is a very talented actor. Agents have the right to choose who they represent. His agent is doing his part to make sure that Trump’s behavior doesn’t become “normalized”. From the interviews I have seen, Woods isn’t someone you can have a reasoned conversation with if you disagree with him, you know, like the president.

    1. Woods does not suffer fools or foolishness. That’s why he ha such a hard time w/ liberals. The same dynamic in this exchange as well.

    2. I love j woods. Shame that liberals hate hearing an opposing viewpoint to socialism!

    3. Actually, Bettykath, his agent is doing his part to make sure that his Groupthink, and the Groupthink of those in related professions of the entertsinment field, is the standard.
      i once read that James Woods got a perfect score on his SAT, and have a very high IQ.
      So you’re right, Bettykath, that you’d be incapable of “having a reasoned conversation with him”.

    4. Agents can serve who they want.
      Restaurants can serve who they want.
      Bakers can serve who they want.
      Wedding photographers can serve who they want.
      ……

      If we are only free to make good decisions – we are not truly free.

    5. We’re already past that point, bettykath. The presidential election was in 2016, and Trump was normalized when we elected him.

      Our focus should be on defeating bad ideas with better ideas, and getting Congress to hold him and his administration accountable.

      Right now, the level of oversight over the administration is horrendous. We had a EP administrator flagrantly engaging in unethical behavior for months and Congress and the court system both did very little about it.

      1. Without supporting Pruitt’s conduct, it was still mostly inconsequential in comparison to McCabe who spent 70K for a table in his office.

        McCabe is not a cabinet head, not a department head.

        That was complete and totally unaccountability.

        Pruitts conduct was pretty much the same as an ordinary Obama appointee.

        Certainly not as egregious as Obama’s secretary of state.

        1. The point that never seems to be discussed is that President Trump is willing to fire those that turn out to be not the best.

          Not only was Obama’s SoS (Clinton) an abysmal failure, Democrats did everything imaginable to parlay that title into POTUS. There’s a very good series on the USA Network called Queen of the South. Rumor has it they were going to use North, but the Democrats were going to sue over copyright infringements. 😉

          1. I would like alot more firings.

            The entire upper management of DOJ and FBI comes to mind.

            I am sorry that Trump and Tillerson did not get along. Tillerson was starving out the carreer foreign policy cabal – good ridance Pompeo seems to be backing away from that.

            I think that we could cut the federal govenrment by 30% and no one would even notice.

            1. At least 50%!

              I live in DC part time and we “non-govies” long for the government shutdowns of yore. The government closes for a few days, traffic on the Beltway is non-existent, and no one else in the entire country notices except those wanting their welfare checks and SNAP chits!

              1. Bzzt, Wrong!

                Whenever there is a shutdown, those people in the country productively engaged do not notice.
                But the parasites on the left go appoplectic. The media is relentlous.

                Old people are left terrified they will not get their social security.

  10. Woods is a superb actor. I first came to know him when he played a sociopath killer in The Onion Field. He is an MIT grad w/ a degree in political science. So, he is arguably the most intelligent person in the vapid wasteland of Hollywood. If you follow him on Twitter, as I do, he is quite tolerant of liberals who are not hypocrites.

    1. Nick,
      The major difference between conservatives and liberals regarding political science is conservatives understand there are negative consequences that have been historically proven to be absolutes. Liberals on the other hand either haven’t studied those consequences or worse, simply believe they are smarter than those that came before them. A liberal is that lab partner thinking it’s cool to grab random chemicals and mix them to see if they can make something of note; the conservative partner is the one constantly trying to stop him knowing he’s going to harm himself and everyone else in the process. We need innovation to advance as a society, but it’s not innovative to try experiments that have proven failures over and over. That’s insanity. Reagan’s quote comes to mind:

      It isn’t so much that liberals are ignorant. It’s just that they know so many things that aren’t so.

    2. James Woods rocks. Listen to his dialogue in this scene, I love it, This is from an old movie but he talks like a patriot in it, even if he plays a bad guy

  11. How many of these so called patriotic liberals celebrated the 4th of July unaware of the conservative values it represents?

    1. And I wonder how many conservatives know about how our young nation tore down King George statues, and fought against corporate monopoly.

      1. They did more than tear down statues. They fought to be free of all forms of abuse controlled and enabled by a tyrannical form of government.

      2. Yrs, I distinctly remember Patrick Henry’s stirring speach decrying Monsanto.

      3. and fought against corporate monopoly.

        That’s a weirdly anachronistic statement.

      4. you’re out of sync with the standard Marxist understanding of the war of independence as a capitalist versus feudal event, not an anticapitalist one. read up Fishwings and report back later

  12. Maybe U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy was right about Hollywood along?

    1. The Great Zambini – the House UnAmerican Activities Committee (HUAC) handled Hollywood. McCarthy went after the State Dept and the Army, he was a Senator. 😉

    2. Yes! of course he was. that’s why they went after him. He took too much flak over the target

  13. IIRC, it’s ‘James Woods’ and his politics are roughly libertarian.

    Again, another episode of Gleischaltung. The left never sleeps, never ceases to politicize every human relations.

    1. Read Carl Schmitt he understood the dynamic and pointed the way a long time ago

  15. One thing about The Donald is that he gets liberals to expose their real selves. Thank you, Mr, President!!!

    1. And the one thing that Trump supporters show is their intolerance for anything that is not white nationalist fascism.

      1. I’ve said before that Democratic candidates should use variations of Hillary’s “basket of deplorables” remark.
        It worked so well for her in 2016, obviously turning around massive numbers of voters quaking in their boots because they would be considered”deplorables” if they voted for Trump.
        Or there’d be “special place in hell” for those who voted for Trump.
        And as we’ve seen,in these comments and elsewhere, this tactic can be used by others who are not candidates.
        There’s an adequate supply of morons who will freely use words like “white nationalist fascism” to chime in and help their cause.
        Also to show their moral/ethical superiority.

        1. Absolutely!

          The left should continue that incredibly effective strategy of labeling everyone they do not like hateful, hating, haters
          they have already identified over half the country as deplorables.
          If they keep it up they can make progressivism a highly exclusive club
          So exclusive that we can completely dismiss them from politics

          1. Considering the administration has refused to condemn a rally in Virginia whose participants chanted, “JEWS WILL NOT REPLACE US”, and “OUR BLOOD, OUR SOIL”, those concerns are well-grounded.

            There are many difficult things required of a president. Condemning white supremacists or fascists isn’t one of them.

            The White House’s advisors on immigration look like they could have come from the Handmaid’s Tale as there are no immigrants or minorities advising him on immigration.

            1. “Considering the administration has refused to condemn a rally in Virginia whose participants chanted, “JEWS WILL NOT REPLACE US”, and “OUR BLOOD, OUR SOIL”, those concerns are well-grounded.”

              Very bizzare standard ? Obama refused to condemn Trayvon Martin, or Micheal Brown.

              Is there some requirement that every administration immediately condemn anything that offends you.

              Every day there are left wing nuts chanting something stupid and offensive. The left is becoming increasingly anti-semetic – does that mean the left is white supremicist ?

              “There are many difficult things required of a president. Condemning white supremacists or fascists isn’t one of them.”

              That would be correct. I do nto expect that the president is required to condemn every stupid protest of 500 or so people.

              Why should immigrants advice the president on Immigration ?
              Should criminals advise him on crime ?

      3. “And the one thing that Trump supporters show is their intolerance for anything that is not white nationalist fascism.”

        That so ?
        Kanye West ?
        Candice Owens ?
        Ben Carson ?
        Elaine Chao ?
        Richard Grinell ?
        Mary Rowland ?

        …..

      4. FishWings that is a talking point of ignorant leftists. The most racist mindset is the leftist political mindset that uses race to promote an agenda. You are probably a decent guy/girl that has fallen into that trap. Why don’t you give up on the talking points and look into what you feel? Most of us want the same things and want others to have those things as well. The debate is over the means and assessing the unintended consequences of our actions. There is plenty of proof around the world and throughout history to guide us. Give it a try.

      5. i think that nationalism and fascism are two different things but who cares huh? and it’s also ok for white people who are a legitimate group to act like other legitimate social groups and pursue their own objectives. that’s called democracy remember?

  16. Maybe Mr. Kaplan should get a Red Hen Restaurant franchise.

    1. Kaplan is a loser grasping for five minutes of fame. Woods will probably get a big boost from this. Like he cares anyhow. Kaplan = loser!

  17. Vinegars, it’s not the fall that hurts, it’s when you land.

    1. That’s not the point of JT’s post. Of course Kaplan cannot be legally coerced to represent Woods; JT is not suggesting that. The issue is whether other artists represented by Kaplan will remain quiet while Woods is blacklisted for his political views. This raises an obvious comparison with McCarthyism.

      1. This is the same faction in Hollywood that bemoaned the fact that actors and writers were blacklisted for their political views during the 50’s

    2. Or not represent whoever he pleases.

      He can choose to not represent blacks, or gays, or women, or muslims.

  19. Just checking and of the 32 claimed exactly zero names popped up as those who use the Ken Kaplan Agency. Is their NYC office a metaphor for a 100 story building? So far so loooooonnnnnnngggggggg

  20. A metaphor for the Democratic Party:
    A liberal jumps off a 100-story building. As he passes the 50th floor, he says, “So far so good.”

    1. A metaphor for republicans, tax breaks for the 1% will trickle down this time.

      1. I would sugest reading Christine Romer’s work on the effects of different taxes.

        Romer – you know, Obama’s Chief Economic advisor.

        Taxes on capital are the worst of all taxes, costing the economy $2 for every $1 or taxes levied
        That would include – corporate taxes, capital gains taxes and taxes on marginal income.

        “Little else is requisite to carry a state to the highest degree of opulence from the lowest barbarism, but peace, easy taxes, and a tolerable administration of justice; all the rest being brought about by the natural course of things. All governments which thwart this natural course, which force things into another channel, or which endeavour to arrest the progress of society at a particular point, are unnatural, and to support themselves are obliged to be oppressive and tyrannical.”

        Adam Smith

      2. Do you really want to display your ignorance of the tax law? You don’t have to, you know.

        1. “How is your statement a metaphor?”

          The comment was to FishWings and his metaphor regarding tax breaks.

        2. LOL! It’s a metaphor in the same way that there is a light at the end of the tunnel is a metaphor for optimism. Sounds great until that metaphor meets reality as an oncoming train.

          1. Olly, maybe the best thing to do is to explain that “Reaganomics” was NOT trickle down. The term was coined by those that love big government. Actually, “Reaganomics” was supply-side economics which contrasts with “redistribution” theories held by many or demand-side economics which one might call “trickle-down” economics if the government is printing money.

            1. There is a perceived barrier to reasonable and rational explanations, discussions and debate; the party firewall. How often do those on the perceived Left (Democrats) include in their comments a disclaimer regarding the failures of one of their “own”; and then how often do those on the perceived Right (Republicans) provide a disclaimer of one of their “own”?

              We aren’t electing angels to public office. If we’ve done everything legally possible to prevent perceived bad characters from office and lose that battle, then we need to shift our focus away from the nice suit, credentials and eloquence (or lack thereof), to actual governance. Politics is simply another word for Sales. Too many people focus on what’s being sold rather than on what they ended up getting. I liked what Obama was selling and nearly voted for him. But I looked under the hood and kicked the tires and realized that’s not what I wanted. I made the right choice. I was never going to vote for Clinton. And I opposed Trump all the way up to him getting the nomination. I still ended up making the right choice.

            2. Event the badly constructed Bush tax cuts actually came very close to “paying for themselves”

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