Celebrities Call for Hollywood Strike Until Donald Trump Resigns-Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
Reports have gone viral that celebrities have called for a “massive” Hollywood strike until “fascist” President-elect Donald Trump resigns.
The Truth:
There’s no truth to reports that celebrities have called for a Hollywood strike until President-elect Donald Trump resigns.
But a number of actors cited in reports about the Hollywood strike are part of a group called “Refuse Racism” that has called for a “Month of Resistance” leading up to Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Rumors about the Hollywood strike appear to have started with Spinzon, a “conservative news” site that appears to publish a mixture of factual and fictional political news stories. The report, which appeared under the headline, “Celebrities Call for a Massive, All-Round Strike in Hollywood ‘Until the Fascist Trump Resigns,” begins:
Rosie O’Donnell, Debra Messing, Ed Asner and Michael Shannon are among the dozens of artists, entertainers, and activists who have attached their names to an effort calling for a month-long protest to stop President-elect Donald Trump. “No! In the Name of Humanity We Refuse to Accept a Fascist America!” reads a full-page ad placed in the New York Times on Wednesday by the group Refuse Racism. “Donald Trump, the President-elect, is assembling a regime of grave danger,” the ad says. “Millions of people in the US and around the world are filled with deep anxiety, fear and disgust. Our anguish is right and just. Our anger must now become massive resistance – before Donald Trump is inaugurated and has the full reins of power in his hands.”
Other Hollywood celebrities who have also joined the campaign, however, are calling for an all-out strike that would span the entire movie industry in the hopes that such a move would urge the President-elect to resign from his position as the newly elected President of the United States. “We’re calling for a general strike that would include every single person involved in making motion pictures in Hollywood, starting with the actors and celebrities themselves and encompassing companies in charge of making props, movie memorabilia and even souvenir shops,” a spokesperson for the Refuse Racism group told The New York Times. “It’s about time people understood that we’re the ones with the power and that the president is there to serve us, not the other way around.”
The report was widely circulated by fringe websites after Meryl Streep’s controversial Golden Globes speech that was critical of President-elect Trump:
https://twitter.com/goldenglobes/status/818295979182960640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
People commented on the report with jibes like “Just shows how they think of themselves. I bet if they went on a full strike no one would miss em.”
However, There’s no indication celebrities plan to stage of Hollywood strike until Trump resigns, but the actors listed in the report — Rosie O’Donnell, Debra Messing, Ed Asner and Michael Shannon — are part of a group called Refuse Racism that has called for “A Month of Resistance” beginning on December 19, 2016, the group’s website states:
Starting 12/19/16, it begins – the day the Electoral College meets to vote in each state: hold a press conference or a protest. Starting now, distribute this Call everywhere and on social media, host house meetings, fundraising events concerts and forums. Everywhere step up the resistance: walkouts from schools and work, protests against attacks and threats on Muslims, women, people of color, LGBT people – all linked to the objective of Stopping the Trump/Pence regime. The struggle must grow.
On MLK weekend, there needs to be massive demonstrations of many thousands in key cities, including Washington. D.C., that grow to millions over the next week, protests that don’t stop . . . where people refuse to leave and more and more people stand up with conviction and courage demanding:
Rosie O’Donnell, Debra Messing, Ed Asner and Michael Shannon have all been vocal critics of Donald Trump, which is probably why they were chosen to be listed in the article. However, Michael Shannon is currently filming two movies, which debunks reports that he’s called for a Hollywood strike until Trump resigns.
So, while there haven’t been any credible reports of celebrities calling for a Hollywood strike until Donald Trump resigns — but actors named in the report are part of the group Refuse Racism, which has called for nationwide walkouts and protests in the month leading up to Trump’s inauguration.