Celebs call on studios to stop backing politicians supported by the NRA

Multiple Hollywood stars — including Amy Schumer, Rosie O’Donnell, Daryl Hannah, Chelsea Handler and Julianne Moore — are calling on executives at major film studios to stop putting money into the campaigns of political candidates who take funds from the National Rifle Association (NRA).
In an open letter released Thursday ahead of the Feb. 9 Academy Awards and signed by several entertainment industry pros, the group says it’s “concerned about the epidemic of gun violence sweeping our country.”
The message, shared by the gun reform group Guns Down America and first reported by Variety, urges studios to end contributions to candidates who “take money from the NRA and vote against gun reform.”
According to the letter, since 2016, the political action committees of studios behind this year’s “best picture” Oscars contenders donated $4.2 million to “NRA-backed lawmakers.”
“These lawmakers’ opposition to gun reform is literally putting our audiences in danger and we are urging you to consider a politician’s position on gun reform when political contributions in the future,” the letter reads.
The message, also signed by actors including Alan Cumming, John Fugelsang and Alyssa Milano, as well as “Will and Grace’s” Eric McCormack, “The Politician’s” Ben Platt and “Insecure’s” Issa Rae, among others, says movie studios should use their “political clout and leverage in Congress to actively lobby for gun reform.”
Many of the letter’s signers have been vocal gun reform voices. “Still Alice” actress Moore said last year that the country is facing a “national emergency” and a “public health crisis” when it comes to gun violence.
Schumer was in the audience at the White House in 2016 when then-President Obama announced new executive actions on guns. Earlier that year, a gunman killed three audience members during a screening of Schumer’s movie “Trainwreck” at a Louisiana theater.
In the letter posted Thursday, the entertainers call out lawmakers for failing “to pass reforms that raise the standard for gun ownership in America,” saying, as a result, “our industry has a responsibility to act.”
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