Marvel actress Tatiana Maslany said Monday that celebrities who avoid political commentary, including Tom Selleck and Michael Jordan, are acting “cowardly,” arguing that public figures have an obligation to weigh in on political issues.
Maslany, known for her role in “She-Hulk,” made the comments during an appearance on Mehdi Hasan’s podcast “We’re Not Kidding with Mehdi & Friends.” The host praised her past advocacy for the “Free Palestine” movement and her past statements accusing Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza.
“To me, artists are like mirrors to the world, to society,” Maslany said. “We have to name things, whether it’s emotional mirroring to people the human experience or it’s speaking out or it’s naming something. It’s like such an important, intrinsic part of our job.”
Hasan asked Maslany about a recent CNN interview in which Selleck, star of “Blue Bloods” and “Magnum P.I.,” declined to discuss politics. He also brought up Michael Jordan’s well-known remark that “Republicans buy sneakers too.”
“But all of it is political. Everything is political,” Maslany responded. “All entertainment is political because it has a viewpoint and it has a perspective. It has visual representation of the world we live in or the kinds of things that are funny or acceptable or the ways that people relate to each other. It’s all about inter-person, like there’s no disconnect in my mind and to me, those are two very rich men who stand to lose a lot if they stand up for something.”
Hasan suggested that celebrities avoid politics out of concern for losing money. Maslany agreed, calling the mindset “bizarre” and “cowardly.”
“Art should destabilize people, too. I’m not thinking, like Tom Selleck’s going like ‘Magnum P.I. should really disturb people on a core level.’ But like, art moves people, whether that’s in like a shock way, a laughter way, all of it. It’s a communication with the world … It’s such a bizarre mentality. It’s so cowardly,” Maslany said.
Eric Scheiner, senior director of Media Research Center Video, told Fox News Digital that Maslany reflects a “typical leftist viewpoint that permeates Hollywood,” including “the need to bully people into spouting forth a political opinion even when they choose not to.”
Scheiner pointed to the late Dolly Parton as an alternative model, noting that she “quietly supported causes she believed in through private, personal actions” and “never aired her politics on the public stage, because she wanted to entertain as many people as possible, not alienate a portion of her audience or encourage the ‘cancellation’ of those who disagreed with her.”
“Maslany should just leave Selleck and Jordan alone, but much like any neighborhood Karen, she just can’t mind her own business,” Scheiner said.
Maslany has previously been outspoken on political matters, including a condemnation earlier this year of the Berlin Film Festival for what she called its “silence” on Gaza.
Representatives for Jordan and Selleck did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
