Jack Black’s participation in the promotion of Joe Biden’s re-election campaign has stirred up netizens, and not in a good way.
Judith Love Cohen was a member of a team that helped save and rescue the Apollo 13 astronauts. She became the mother of Neil Siegel, a computer scientist and engineer and Jack Black, a famous Hollywood actor. The latter was very recently a part of a guild of A-list celebrities who endorsed current US president Joe Biden on Saturday in Los Angeles.
Former President Barrack Obama was also featured in the event alongside Hollywood legend Jeffrey Katzenberg and A-list celebrities George Clooney, Julia Roberts and more. They were able to rake in $30 million which broke a previous record of $25 million made in March. Jack Black’s participation caused an array of dismay amongst netizens including his own fans. The beloved actor is known for playing endearing roles in Hollywood blockbusters. He gained immense popularity after voicing Po in the Kung Fu Panda movie series. He is mostly recognized for being comedic and fun-loving, similar to the characters that he plays on screen. So, when he sensationally announced his support for Biden, netizens were very quick to call him out.
They showed their disappointments through various tweets on the social-media platform X. Dom Lucre tweets “…If you(are) ever needed to be reminded that we are truly in election season this is it “ with a video of Black doing stand-up in an American flag overalls, which he claimed to be “(the) most patriotic of all times”. Netizens felt him to be “out of touch” and “stuck inside their(his) political bubbles of ignorance”.
Why should celebs be separated from politics?
We are all well aware of the huge influence that celebrities and public figures have on our lives. People are often quick to follow everything that they endorse and hence we have celebrity advertisements. Products are quick to sell out if a big name is attached to it. Therefore, the sponsorships of presidential candidates through popular and well-loved actors is met with distaste and displeasure. One X user commented, “…they have no idea what it’s like to live in the middle class right now…”, which shines a light on the economic condition of the U.S.A.
Black’s mother, Judith Love Cohen, is well known for solving a problem in the Abort-Guidance System of Apollo 13, which helped in rescuing the astronauts, when she went into labor. She finished her task and then went to deliver baby Jack! This status is also attached to Black in his career. But, his enthusiastic speech for Joe Biden, a polarizing figure in politics, where he claims to believe he’ll “get a pretty shoutout in his victory speech for what I (he) gave up to be here” received significant backlash. His reputation has taken a turn for the worse as now more people see Hollywood celebs as “sell-outs” and “irrelevant”.
The involvement of Jack Black has reignited the debate of celebrities supporting political campaigns. They are seen as secret weapons on both sides as popularity attracts numbers and so their sponsorships are well-scrutinized.