Following NBC’s controversial decision to host a town hall with Donald Trump after the president withdrew from the second debate by refusing to participate virtually due to his recent coronavirus infection, over 100 Hollywood stars have signed a petition to implore the network to move the event to another date. As it stands, Trump’s town hall will directly compete with Joe Biden’s Q&A event on ABC on Thursday night, which is when the second debate would’ve taken place had Trump’s campaign agreed to the rules. But since that clearly didn’t happen, Biden was awarded the entire time slot to himself. Or at least he was until NBC stepped in, prompting an open letter from Hollywood’s biggest power players.
“This is not a partisan issue. This is about the political health of our democracy,” the protest letter states as it takes NBCUniversal and its parent company Comcast to task for undermining the bipartisan debate commission. Via Variety:
“President Trump refused to participate in the virtual debate scheduled for Thursday night by the Presidential Debate Commission,” the letter says. “By agreeing to air his town hall as counterprogramming opposite Vice President Biden’s town hall on ABC, you are enabling the President’s bad behavior while undercutting the Presidential Debate Commission and doing a disservice to the American public.”
Here’s the full list of stars who signed the letter to NBC:
Aaron Sorkin
Adam McKay
Adam Scott
Alex Barnow
Allison Tolman
Amy Lippman
Amy Schumer
Aubrey Plaza
Ava DuVernay
Ayelet Waldman
Ben Stiller
Billy Eichner
Billy Porter
Brendan Gall
Chelsea Handler
Chris Bishop
Chris Meloni
Chris Miller
Chris Sullivan
Chrissy Metz
Courtney Kemp
Dahvi Waller
Damon Lindelof
Dan Fogelman
Daniel Hageman
David A. Goodman
David Guggenheim
Debra Messing
Ely Henry
Emily Gordon
Eric Guggeheim
Greg Berlanti
JJ Abrams
Jason Moore
Jennifer Yale
Jill Knox
Jim Parriott
Joe Mantello
Jon Cryer
Jon Hamm
Jon Huertas
Josh Gad
Josh Singer
Julianne Moore
Julie Plec
Justin Hartley
Keith Powell
Kenya Barris
Kevin Hageman
Kumail Nanjiani
Laeta Kalogridis
Latoya Morgan
Mandy Moore
Marc Guggenheim
Mariska Hargitay
Marti Noxon
Martin Gero
Matthew Lopez
Max Mutchnick
Michael Chabon
Michael Green
Michele Fazekas
Milo Ventimiglia
Neal Baer
Nicholas Stoller
Nicole Yorkin
Otmara Marrero
Parvesh Cheena
Patton Oswalt
Phil Lord
Preacher Lawson
Robert Kirkman
Ryan Murphy
Samuel Baum
Sarah Schechter
Sarah Silverman
Sarah Treem
Seth Grahame-Smith
Seth Rogen
Shakina Nayfack
Sophia Bush
Sterling K. Brown
Sunil Nayir
Susan Kelechi Watson
Tara Butters
Terry Matalas
Thor Freudenthal
Tom McCarthy
Tony Kushner
Travis Beacham
Vanessa Taylor
Zoe Lister-Jones
Ken Olin
Abbi Jacobson
Alison Janney
David Kohan
Robert King
Malcolm Spellman
Seth MacFarlane
Marjorie David
Donald Faison
Chris Misiano
David Goyer
Julie Martin
Joss Whedon
Warren Leight
While the letter will hopefully turn some heads at NBC, the battle over the controversial town hall continued on Twitter where the #NBCBlackout hashtag is gaining traction thanks to stars like Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who was a prominent fixture on the network during her time on Seinfeld.
— Julia Louis-Dreyfus (@OfficialJLD) October 15, 2020
(Via Variety)