Hollywood Star Sounds Off About Celeb Politics: You Make 'Half Your Audience Despise You'
Actor Josh Duhamel and journalist Megyn Kelly found common ground during a recent interview on “The Megyn Kelly Show” podcast.
With enthusiastic approval from the podcast’s conservative host, Duhamel urged entertainers to keep quiet about politics.
“If you really want to be successful in this business,” the veteran actor said, “why would you make half of your audience despise you by your political beliefs?”
Duhamel, perhaps best known for playing Captain William Lennox in the “Transformers” film series, won the 2002 Daytime Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.
In other words, he has enjoyed a lengthy and successful career. His experience and advice, therefore, might carry some weight with younger actors.
At the beginning of a clip from the interview, posted to YouTube Thursday, Kelly asked Duhamel how he avoided some of the pitfalls that have beset so many Hollywood stars over the years.
Duhamel replied in a way that conservatives would applaud. Kelly certainly did.
The actor called himself “very lucky to have a very tight-knit group of friends [and] a family that wasn’t afraid to put my a** in check if I needed to be.”
“There you go,” Kelly replied.
Moments later, Duhamel also credited the fact that he worked construction and other real-world jobs prior to acting.
Interestingly enough, Kelly did not bring up politics. Instead, she suggested that a positive family environment helps protect famous people from sycophantic flattery.
Apparently, the mere mention of such obsequiousness and its effects got Duhamel to thinking about actors and politics.
“Because you have a platform doesn’t mean that you get to preach to everybody,” the actor said moments later.
“Ah, thank you!” Kelly exclaimed in approval. “Tell that to the Oscars.”
Duhamel then described his experiences in places like the Midwest and Georgia, where ordinary people hold preachy entertainers in contempt. Thus, he keeps quiet about controversial subjects.
“I have real strong opinions about things,” he said moments later. “But I don’t really talk about it, because it’s like, why? Why would I alienate half my audience? Because I respect their views on things. But I’m not gonna preach to them. They can believe what they want to believe. I’m just here to make cool stuff.”
Kelly asked the actor whether entertainers refusing to get drawn into politics has turned into a trend. She cited recent examples such as the progressive actress Jennifer Lawrence and the conservative darling Sydney Sweeney.
“It should be,” he replied. “I mean, it makes perfect sense. Why would you — if you really want to be successful in this business, why would you make half of your audience despise you by your political beliefs?”
“Maybe they don’t care. I don’t know,” the actor continued. “I look at it as a business decision. You know, I’m here just to make cool movies, cool TV, I’m here to make cool stuff. That’s my — I’m the court jester. If I want to preach to you about what I believe politically, I’ll go run for office, which I’m not gonna do, by the way.
Readers may watch the relevant part of the interview in the YouTube video below. Duhamel’s comments on preachy celebrities began around the 2:40 mark.
In recent months, some celebrities have ignored Duhamel’s advice. At the Grammy Awards in February, for instance, rapper Bad Bunny and singer-songwriter Billie Eilish, among others, made derogatory comments about Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
On the other hand, some Hollywood stars have eschewed politics in favor of pro-family statements. These include actor Timothee Chalamet and Jessie Buckley, the 2026 Academy Award winner for Best Actress.
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