While it is not at all surprising that a Hollywood media outlet would take a hostile position towards conservatives, it is still something that needs to be called out. If they will not hold themselves accountable someone else needs to. We saw this on display when the new film "Reagan" debuted this past weekend. The movie industry press was of course dismissive towards the release, and in one case, a reporter came out with rather inciteful comments about one of the cast members, actor Nick Searcy.

When it comes to the levels of journalism, the Hollywood press ranks somewhere around the level of AA minor league baseball. It operates inside of an insular world and rarely breaks out into the mainstream, so you end up with a liberal industry being covered by…another liberal industry. The level of reporting is as expected and rarely rises above its designated goal of covering entertainment.

A prime example is the Harvey Weinstein rape saga from years ago. While his rapacious activities were known in the industry (note how many called it an open secret when the story first broke), the entertainment press did not expose his behavior. When the story came out, publisher Sharon Waxman detailed her time years earlier as a reporter at the New York Times when she tried to break this story but was stymied by editors. 

She tried to lay the blame for the media not reporting on this sooner, except she had since created a popular industry outlet, The Wrap. In the following years, Waxman, as the head of a news outlet, had all the opportunity to break this story she originally had. Why didn’t she??? Because angering a studio head is the last thing desired for the publisher of an outlet dependent on celebrity interviews, studio contacts, movie set invites, and other inside access.

See also: Actor Jon Voight Talks to RedState About 'Reagan' Movie and Issues a Dire Warning

So it is of little surprise to see this cloistered media wing deliver slanted and biased coverage of a movie about Ronald Reagan. Last week, the cinematic biography of the president, “Reagan” starring Dennis Quaid and a clutch of other conservative names from Hollywood, held its world premiere. (Disclosure: Townhall Media owner Salem is a producer of the film.) The Hollywood Reporter was on the scene, and actor Nick Searcy, who has a role in the film, was in attendance and on the site Hollywood In Toto, it was shown how reporter Chris Gardner described the “Justified” actor:

• Reagan actor Jon Voight, a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump, wore a silk tie that featured text from the Pledge of Allegiance. Conservative actor Nick Searcy, who participated in the Jan. 6 insurrection [emphasis added] and has been one of Trump’s most outspoken supporters, strolled the red carpet to chat up his role in Reagan.

This should be seen as libelous coverage, considering it implies illegal behavior by the actor. While Searcy was in the capital that day, he was actually shooting footage of the various events around the area. He did not participate in the riot, did not enter the Capitol, and has never been charged with any crime at all regarding that day. How Gardner arrives at this conclusion is not at all evident.

Searcy lit up the reporter on his FaceBook account, not holding back, with typical Nick Searcy directness.

• “This is a perfect example of media propagandists spreading the lie that January 6 was a dangerous “insurrection,” while simultaneously trying to send the message to the rest of Hollywood that opposing the Democrat party machine will make you a pariah. There is no reason for [THR journalist] Chris Gardner to accuse me of violence on J6 other than to try to hurt me professionally and to dance for his paymasters at THR, to show that he is a good and faithful servant to their god, the almighty Democrat party.

He has a valid point. It is known in Hollywood that anyone being openly conservative in their views will quickly find their career impaired. The industry that constantly lectures and hectors its audience about acceptance and inclusiveness operates with, as Christian Toto mentions in his coverage, a well-defined blacklist towards conservative thought. The only performers you will hear from are those with lengthy established careers who harbor no fear of a backlash at this stage. You see those names in the cast of “Reagan”: Along with Quaid and Searcy, there is Jon Voight, Robert Davi, and Kevin Sorbo.

And if there is a blacklist toward conservatives, being labeled as an “insurrectionist” is a career death sentence. Once Gardner was called out for this egregious opinion, his outlet went ahead and altered his piece, the edit being made in silence without attribution to the shift in tone. 

Meh, no big deal – the only people who read the trades will never want the outlet held accountable anyway, right?

1) The original post outright accusing Searcy of participating in an insurrection.

2) The new version, removing the accusation and now stating Searcy was merely in D.C. on that date.

No editor's note or "correction" is included to signify this alteration -- clearly subterfuge. pic.twitter.com/wdJphnsnE7

— Brad Slager - Folksy as Walz & Joyful As a K-Hive! (@MartiniShark) August 26, 2024