DINH DOONG

Whoopi Goldberg of The View declared Tuesday that Hollywood is a “very right-wing town” after actor Zachary Levi told the crowd that publicly supporting former President Donald Trump could be “career suicide.”

At a rally in Michigan, Levi endorsed Trump before introducing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard on stage. While speaking to Gabbard, he called Hollywood “very liberal” and said he could face backlash for coming out as MAGA. Levi is best known for his work on the television series Chuck and his roles in the Shazam films.

“In my industry, as you can imagine, Hollywood is a very big city and this could very well be career suicide,” the actor said.

Goldberg played the clip on Tuesday’s episode of The View and shook his head in response.

“That’s not necessarily true. “Since Hollywood began, it’s been — it’s always been a right-leaning town, but I know you don’t know much about Hollywood history, so let me educate you,” Goldberg said.

She called Levi’s point “absurd” because actors like Jon Voight and Dennis Quaid are still working today.

“We, like America, we’re a mixed bag. We’re a mixed bag and sometimes it seems like there’s more Democrats and sometimes it seems like there’s more Republicans, but the truth is very few people seem to accept it because they’re Republicans. Jon Voight, who’s working. Dennis Quaid, who’s working. Everybody’s working. Stop it! It’s more BS and it’s unnecessary,” Goldberg said.

Voight is currently starring in the Francis Ford Coppola indie film Megalopolis . He also has a supporting role in Reagan , in which Quaid plays the late President Ronald Reagan. He has been vocal in his support for Trump while promoting the film, which is not being financed through any major studios and features other outspoken conservatives like Kevin Sorbo.

While Hollywood was once an industry rocked by a virtual blacklist when Joseph McCarthy accused many artists of being communists, some conservatives and right-leaning artists have pointed to a major shift in the industry in recent years. Conservatives in the industry created their own networking group, Friends of Abe, in 2004.

Goldberg named two actors who were working, but many conservatives say their politics have negatively impacted their careers. James Woods was fired by his agent in 2018 for his pro-Trump statements on social media, and the actor has now turned to producing and music to sustain his career. He executive produced Oppenheimer after buying the rights to the original book and pitching it to director Christopher Nolan. He also claims he was asked to keep his involvement a secret at the time for fear that industry members would refuse to support the film during awards season. Actor Robert Davi claimed in 2017 that he had also lost a role due to his support for Trump, and other conservative artists have cited similar struggles.

Pandemic vaccination mandates in Hollywood have also cost some right-leaning artists gigs, including Matthew Marsden and Drea de Matteo, the latter of whom turned to OnlyFans and a clothing brand to make ends meet as acting work dried up. She also said there are many Trump supporters in Hollywood who are choosing to stay silent for fear of backlash.