The Hollywood Blacklist Myth : "Useful Idiots": Eric McCormack

"Useful Idiots": Eric McCormack

'Will & Grace' star Eric McCormack slammed after calling for blacklisting of Trump donors in Hollywood

By Joseph A. Wulfsohn

"Will & Grace" star Eric McCormack drew comparisons to the late Sen. Joseph McCarthy on Friday after calling for the boycotting of those in Hollywood who attend an upcoming California fundraiser for President Trump.

Canadian-born McCormack, 56, said he wants the Trump donors' names revealed so "the rest of us can be clear about who we don’t wanna work with."

Trump plans to attend the Sept. 17 fundraiser in Beverly Hills during a trip to California that will also include visits to the San Francisco Bay Area and San Diego, The Hollywood Reporter wrote Thursday.

Tickets for the Beverly Hills event, scheduled during the week of the Emmy Awards, will reportedly start at $1,000, with packages for couples costing as much as $100,000.

Hosts for the event will reportedly be Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, RNC co-chairman Tommy Hicks Jr., Trump 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale and Trump Victory finance chairman Todd Ricketts.

In a Twitter message on Friday, McCormack asked that the Hollywood Reporter name names when it comes to fundraiser attendees.

"Hey, @THR, kindly report on everyone attending this event," he wrote, "so the rest of us can be clear about who we don't want to worrk with. Thx."

Soon after his tweet appeared, McCormack was blasted on social media, with many of his critics drawing comparisons to McCarthy, whose Cold War efforts to oust Communists from Washington, Hollywood and othere spheres of influence resulted in a Hollywood blacklist of those whose loyalty to the U.S. was questioned.

"Hey @jack is this tweet threatening to "blacklist" American Citizens in Hollywood okay for the good of society?" former "Grey's Anatomy" star Isaiah Washington asked Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.

"How wonderfully fascist of you @EricMcCormack! Yes, how dare anyone in a FREE COUNTRY actually be FREE to support someone that you don’t or have an opinion that differs from yours," actress Maeve Quinlan reacted. "Anyone that doesn’t get in line with your opinion should absolutely be blacklisted from work."

Hey @jack is this tweet openly threatening to “blacklist” American Citizens in Hollywood okay for the good of society? Just asking for a friend. https://twitter.com/ericmccormack/status/1167309987393110016 …

McCormack is best known for playing Will Truman in the hit NBC comedy, which was revived for three seasons. His co-star, Debra Messing, is also an outspoken critic of Trump and Republicans.

The problems we have with the Hollywood left

The problem we have with the Hollywood left is it's the notion that accepting differences is no longer good enough, you have to be complicit in them. The problem we have with the Hollywood left it's the notion that any differing opinion is a threat to your very way of existence but never the opposite. The problem we have with the Hollywood left is the blatant hypocrisy of claiming to care about democracy well on abashedly striving to take control of every step of the political process. The problem we have with the Hollywood left is the notion that any idea or opinion outside of your own ideology is morally repugnant and therefore needs to be silenced. The problem we have with the Hollywood left is the notion that your goals must be achieved using everyone resources regardless on whether they agree. The problem we have with the Hollywood left is their supporting of rights situationally when convenient and the outright rejection of those rights when it's in it's the inconvenient for you. The problem we have with the Hollywood left isthat somehow you know what's best for me enough to allow the government to make that choice for me The problem we have with the Hollywood left it's their failure to see the irony in labeling anyone different than yourself as an extremist or a fundamentalist. Originally written by Jason Blood. Edited for this page.

Just because someone’s name appeared in Red Channels, that doesn’t mean they were blacklisted. It just means there name appeared in Red Channels.

Just because a person said they were blacklisted doesn’t mean they were. Many people in Hollywood have lied about being blacklisted over the years.

If a person was actually blacklisted…and not many were actually blacklisted….it was the studios and TV sponsors who blacklisted them. Not the United States federal government.

If a person claims the blacklist ruined their career, they should be able to prove they had a career before the blacklist.

For the most part, front organizations assumed the character of either a mass or membership organization or a paper organization. Both solicited and used names of prominent persons. Literally hundreds of groups and organizations have either been infiltrated or organized primarily to accomplish the purposes of promoting the interests of the Soviet Union in the United States, the promotion of Soviet war and peace aims, the exploitation of Negroes in the United States, work among foreign-language groups, and to secure a favorable viewpoint toward the Communists in domestic, political, social, and economic issues. The first requisite for front organizations is an idealistic sounding title. Hundreds of such organizations have come into being and have gone out of existence when their true purposes have become known or exposed while others with high-sounding names are continually springing up. J. Edgar Hoover on the subject of Communist front organizations. March 26, 1947