Hollywood knows a failure when it sees one.
So it’s no surprise that some of the industry’s biggest luminaries are engaging in a collective act of concern for President Biden. poor performance during last week’s presidential debate against former President Trump.
Hollywood supporters, including those who previously wrote large checks, are nervous about Biden’s prospects, with some becoming increasingly vocal in their calls to remove him from the top of the ticket.
The public drumbeat of the reliably liberal entertainment industry has begun to grow with a column published Wednesday in “Lost” co-creator Deadline Damon Lindelofwho said he would withhold future donations until Biden steps down as the Democratic presidential nominee.
In an email sent Friday to The Times, Lindelof said Biden’s debate performance — which was supposed to assuage concerns about Biden’s age but did the opposite — changed his opinion about the president’s candidacy. While he has “immense respect” for Biden, he said, the risks posed by the president remaining in the race are too high. Lindelof said he has donated $125,000 this cycle to Biden’s campaign and nearly the same amount to Democratic Party candidates for Senate and Congress.
“For me, it’s not about the ability to govern, it’s about the ability to WIN,” he wrote.
Many Democrats fear that Biden’s responsibilities put the party at risk of losing not just the White House but also negative elections, in a way that will do long-term damage to their causes.
Co-founder of Netflix Reed Hastingsalso called on Biden to “step aside to allow a vigorous Democratic leader to defeat Trump and keep us safe and prosperous,” according to The New York Times. Hastings and his wife have contributed more than $20 million in donations to the Democratic Party in recent years, the newspaper reported. Hastings declined further comment.
Other prominent Hollywood actors have expressed concerns about Biden’s continued presence on the campaign trail, including Endeavor Executive Director, Ari Emanuel and media titan Barry Diller, who bluntly responded when asked by Ankler whether he would continue to support Biden’s campaign: “No.” Filmmaker and Disney heir Abigail Disney said she would withhold donations until Biden was replaced at the top of the Democratic Party ticket.
Biden has said he will remain in the race despite mounting pressure. On Friday, speaking before supporters at a Wisconsin high school, Biden acknowledged his subpar debate but vowed to keep fighting.
“I beat Donald Trump,” Biden said. “I will beat him again.”
Hollywood has long been an important source of funding for the Democratic Party, with powerful industry players often organizing major fundraising events and publicly lending their support to candidates. That’s why the industry’s current anxiety hangs over Biden’s campaign.
“The meaning of things now is that all this lives in the hands of Joe Biden and those closest to the Biden family, as well as some close advisors,” said Steve Caplan, an adjunct instructor of public relations and advertising at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism who currently teaches a course on political advertising and the 2024 election. “I think that’s certainly true, but without money – money from mega-donors, including Hollywood money – there is no campaign.”
It wasn’t long ago that some members of Hollywood’s elite were in a situation star-studded fundraiser for Biden at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles. Hosted by industry titan and former DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, the soiree featured the likes of TV host Jimmy Kimmel, along with actors George Clooney and Julia Roberts.
Katzenberg is one of Biden’s seven campaign co-chairs and has raised millions for his run. After repeatedly dismissing Democrats’ concerns that Biden was too old to run — going so far as to call Biden’s age his “superpower” — some Hollywood donors are now frustrated. Since the June 27 debate, Katzenberg has been strangely silent.
Katzenberg, who created the short-form streaming service Quibi, declined to comment for this story, referring questions to the Biden campaign.
Deciding whether Biden can stay in the presidential race will come down to three factors — the Democratic Party’s leadership, the president’s performance in the polls and sentiment among big donors, said Jessica Levinson, who teaches election law at Loyola Law School.
“If your major donors jump ship, that’s not only a blow to the wallet, but also a huge signal to other people,” she said.
Conversations have already begun to turn to who could replace Biden.
State and local politicians and activists are considering, “albeit painfully and reluctantly,” the viability of a ticket led by Vice President Kamala Harris, said Donna Bojarsky, a longtime Democratic political consultant who runs a nonprofit dedicated to building civic engagement in Los Angeles.
“There is potential growing excitement about Kamala,” she said. “The possibility of a next generation team looking to the future could be very attractive.”
Hollywood insiders said a new face could spark more excitement, such as Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, California Gov. Gavin Newsom or Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.
But not everyone in Hollywood is hitting the panic button.
“Everyone just needs to breathe,” said Democratic Party fundraiser and Hollywood Advisor Andy Spahn he said in an email Friday to The Times. “This will resolve itself soon.”
This story originally appeared on Los Angeles Times.
