Actress to Hollywood: Don't Televise the Awards Shows; Help Fire

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Earlier this week, I wrote about how disconnected from reality and tone-deaf the Golden Globes were. In that article, I said I’d have tremendous respect for any actor or actress who spoke up on this matter. After all, it’s awards season in Hollywood, and there will be many more opportunities for them to do so. Of course, I had no idea that 24 hours later, Los Angeles would erupt into flames, but apparently, that’s what it took for someone to speak up. Well, sort of.

Actress Jean Smart, who just won a Golden Globe for “Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy” for her role in “Hacks,” took to Instagram just after midnight on Thursday and called for networks to skip televising awards shows this year and donate the revenue they would have garnered to fire victims and firefighters. Here’s her full statement:

While there are a few issues with her statement, I’m going to give Ms. Smart some credit here — and not just because I think “Designing Women” is one of the greatest shows to ever grace my television. Her heart is in the right place. It would be wonderful to see these Hollywood stars skip the frivolity of patting-themselves-on-the-back season and spend their time and money helping others — and I mean truly helping others, not just virtue signaling. Boots on the ground. Checkbooks open. Stepping out of glass houses and showing kindness to their fellow man. They could still hand out the awards — just do it privately. There’s no need to parade around in million-dollar outfits in front of TV cameras at this point while people are losing their homes.

Many have applauded Smart for speaking up on the matter, but some of her followers made a few points in the comments section. For example, one user pointed out, “As an employee for said award shows — those of us ‘below the line’ rely on award season financially to get us through the year… Productions shutting down will further contribute to the demise of LA… We are your drivers, your stylists, caterers, pas, riggers…”

Some simply stated that maybe the networks should air the awards shows and donate the revenue they generate, which is a bit more sensical, while others said maybe the celebrities themselves could make donations.

According to People magazine, several of these awards shows have been postponed. The Critics Choice Awards were supposed to take place on January 12, but now they’ll happen on January 26. Oscar nominations were moved from January 17 to 19. The SAG Awards live nomination announcements were canceled, as were many movie premieres.

Personally, I can’t tell you the last time I watched one of these shows myself. Between the politics, the fact that I’ve never even heard of half the shows and movies that get nominated, and the insults to people outside of the Hollywood bubble — I’m still not over Meryl Streep insulting people who enjoy watching football in 2017 — they just became unwatchable to me.

But it will be interesting to see how Tinseltown forges ahead in the weeks and months to come when it is a place known for being fairly tone-deaf. I feel terrible for anyone who loses their home, whether they have $100 or $100 million in the bank. At the end of the day, we’re all human, and no matter what happens, I hope everyone is humble enough to remember that going forward.