Politics
Hollywood power brokers pushed for Biden to step down. Now they're stepping up for Harris
Barely a month ago, a veritable who’s who of Hollywood A-listers turned out for President Joe Biden. The event, organized by former DreamWorks Animation Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg, drew George Clooney, Barbra Streisand and Julia Roberts.
Jimmy Kimmel moderated an interview with Biden and former President Barack Obama at the gathering in downtown Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater. Sheryl Lee Ralph sang and Jack Black entertained the star-studded crowd wearing a pair of American flag overalls.
The evening raised more than $30 million, the largest one-night campaign haul in Democratic history.
But behind the fawning praise and laughs, cracks began to appear in the public façade.
Some of the most powerful members of Hollywood, who had steadfastly supported the president, harbored some serious reservations about the 81-year-old’s mental acuity.
At times during the event, Biden’s answers meandered and Obama occasionally jumped in to redirect the conversation.
Then came Biden’s disastrous debate performance. And those very same industry stalwarts who had just feted Biden began saying he should not seek reelection.
“Lost” co-creator Damon Lindelof, who attended the fundraiser, was one of the first to publicly call for Biden to step aside. “Biden has to go & the Dems need to wake up,” he wrote in a column for Deadline, adding that donors should withhold checks until he did so. Within days others followed suit. Netflix co-founder and major Democratic donor Reed Hastings also called on Biden to end his reelection bid.
The most damaging blow came a week later, when Clooney wrote a blistering Op-Ed for the New York Times, saying, “The Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fundraiser was not the Joe ‘big F-ing deal’ Biden of 2010. He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate.”
Clooney’s public excoriation proved to be a tipping point, creating a public relations disaster for the Biden campaign, said a confidant close to a senior Democratic leader who was not authorized to speak publicly. Soon others — including actor-filmmaker Rob Reiner — began airing similar sentiments, contributing to the pressure that culminated in the incumbent president’s extraordinary decision to drop out as the Democratic nominee.
The remarkable turn of events underlined the outsize role that Hollywood — long known as the “ATM of the Democratic Party” — plays in political campaigns and the money that fuels them.
“In the world of politics, money is what drives these things, and the fact that many in Hollywood closed up their checkbooks had a very big impact,” said Steve Caplan, adjunct instructor of public relations and advertising at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
Now, entertainment heavyweights are putting their money behind Vice President Kamala Harris’ White House campaign. Hastings contributed $7 million to a super PAC supporting Harris, the largest donation that he has made to a single candidate, said a person close to the Netflix co-founder who was not authorized to comment. The Information first reported the donation.
“We are all in for Kamala and have been since the moment she announced,” said Andy Spahn, a Los Angeles political consultant to media moguls such as Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg. “Tremendous excitement and energy here around Kamala’s candidacy. We are all in.”
Unease over Biden’s gaffes
For months, Biden’s gaffes and stumbles became hard to ignore. He fell walking up the stairs to Air Force One; he mixed up Syria and Libya at a news conference and called Kamala Harris “Vice President Trump.”
While allies and critics alike began commenting, the campaign dismissed their concerns as isolated incidents; Biden described his debate performance as a “bad night.”
As momentum for Biden sputtered and his failings became more publicly evident, some supporters vented their frustration toward Katzenberg, one of the campaign’s co-chairs, who assured them Biden was on his game, even calling his age his “superpower.”
Katzenberg took to making comparisons to Harrison Ford starring in a new Indiana Jones movie at 80 and Mick Jagger performing on tour with the Rolling Stones, also while turning 80, the Wall Street Journal first reported.
Katzenberg declined to comment.
But Biden’s lackluster approval ratings and an unmistakable enthusiasm gap continued apace, particularly among celebrities, who were not jumping on to endorse the campaign.
Even before the debate, it was difficult to get industry players to publicly back Biden, according to someone who works closely with celebrity surrogates and was not authorized to speak publicly.
“There was a general lack of enthusiasm. Some wanted to bury their heads in the sand, and there was a legitimate group of people who felt that there was a value misalignment with what was happening in the Middle East and a larger group that did not see the benefit in speaking out,” said this individual. “It was extremely difficult, even with stalwarts.”
While Clooney and others had taken public stands, this person said there were a number of private conversations going on between about 40 prominent artists and the campaign’s leadership.
John Legend, the Grammy-winning singer, shared the concerns about Biden’s viability in an interview.
“There would be a lot of challenges to overcome if we stayed with Biden and to defeat Trump with him as our nominee,” Legend told The Times. “For months the American people were telling us that they didn’t like either choice.”
Within days of each other, Disney heir Abigail Disney and billionaire media mogul Barry Diller said they were halting any further financial support to the Biden campaign.
Speaking at the Aspen Ideas Festival, Endeavor chief Ari Emanuel took Biden’s advisers to task for their lack of candor about his health and criticized the president for backtracking on his pledge to pass the baton after one term.
“I had a father who died at 92, but at 81 I took away his car, and it was a very simple test for me,” said Emanuel, whose brother Rahm Emanuel served as Obama’s White House chief of staff. “If you were driving from downtown Beverly Hills to Malibu, would you want Biden to do it at night?”
A dramatic shift toward Harris
On Sunday, Biden announced he would not carry on as the Democratic nominee and endorsed Harris.
It was as if the tide turned — at least in Hollywood.
“Oh God. People, and I mean this sincerely, people are giddy. They are not just happy, they are giddy,” said Donna Bojarsky, a longtime Democratic political consultant and co-founder of a nonprofit dedicated to building civic engagement in L.A. “I haven’t seen this much excitement since Barack Obama or Joe Biden’s [2020] election. … And only now are we realizing how incredibly difficult and depressing this previous situation was. Now, it’s as if an anvil has been lifted off.”
Within 24 hours, a growing list of marquee names from movies, TV, fashion, music and media including Jamie Lee Curtis, Spike Lee, Questlove and Ariana Grande signaled their support for Harris, who is widely expected to take over as her party’s presidential nominee. Beyoncé gave Harris permission to use her song “Freedom” for her presidential campaign.
“There is an increased excitement — the feeing is palpable,” said Legend. “There is an optimism that people are feeling now that they were not feeling before that we can ride this moment to victory.”
Many of those who had blasted Biden and his advisors are now galvanized around Harris, whose husband, Doug Emhoff, is a prominent Los Angeles entertainment attorney.
At the top of the list was Clooney, who in a statement to CNN praised Biden for exhibiting “true leadership,” adding, “We’re all so excited to do whatever we can to support Vice President Harris in her historic quest.”
“An election that was previously characterized by dread and grim resignation is now characterized by the excitement of possibility,” Lindelof wrote in an email to The Times, adding that he has been a “huge fan” of Harris since she first ran for California attorney general in 2010. “I have yet to speak to a single person who hasn’t been deeply impressed by everything she has said … during this emotionally intense and complicated time. We’re wildly inspired by this potential ticket and we’ll give accordingly.’
As the praise and endorsements rolled in, so has the money.
Spahn, the political consultant, noted that Harris raised $81 million in the first 24 hours after Biden announced he would not seek reelection, a record-breaking haul. “More to come,” Spahn said.
Diller told The Times that he and his wife, fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg, plan to give “the maximum” allowed under federal law to the new Democratic presidential nominee.
“I think it was inevitable,” he said of Biden stepping down, noting that his preferred Democratic candidate is Harris, calling her “qualified and competent.”
And Hollywood is gearing up for another glitzy star-studded fundraiser, likely to happen before the Democratic National Convention next month in Chicago, according to two individuals with knowledge of the event.
“The last 24 hours have been a lot of excitement — sign me up, where can I contribute, how do I get involved?” said Wendy Greuel, a former Los Angeles city controller who worked in President Bill Clinton’s administration and for the entertainment firm of DreamWorks SKG. “Whether it’s the entertainment industry, whether it’s activists, it has been a shot in the arm for people to engage or reengage.”
She added that Democrats were boosted by the fact a decision had been made and there is a goal to pursue.
“The sense of limbo was challenging,” Greuel said. “The excitement is we have a plan. We have a mission to defeat Donald Trump and we’re behind Vice President Kamala Harris for president of the United States. It’s a shot in the arm. People appreciate this is the pathway to have a Democratic nominee and everyone is rowing in the same direction.”
Times Staff writer Wendy Lee contributed to this report.
new video loaded: Virginia Voters Approve New Map Favoring Democrats
By Shawn Paik
April 22, 2026
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Sparks flew on Capitol Hill as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., accused Federal Reserve nominee Kevin Warsh of being a potential “sock puppet” for President Donald Trump.
Warsh, tapped by Trump in January to lead the Federal Reserve, faced a two-and-a-half-hour confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee.
If confirmed, he would take the helm of the world’s most powerful central bank, shaping interest rates, borrowing costs and the financial outlook for millions of American households for the next four years.
WHO IS KEVIN WARSH, TRUMP’S PICK TO SUCCEED JEROME POWELL AS FED CHAIR?
Kevin Warsh, nominee for chairman of the Federal Reserve, listens to ranking member Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., make an opening statement during his Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee confirmation hearing on Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
In her opening remarks, Warren sharply criticized Warsh’s record and questioned his independence, arguing he is “uniquely ill-suited for the job as Fed chair” and warning he could give Trump influence over the central bank.
She accused Warsh of enabling Wall Street during the 2008 financial crisis, which fell during his tenure as a Federal Reserve governor when he served from 2006 to 2011.
“In our meeting last week, we discussed the 2008 financial crash, where 8 million people lost their jobs, 10 million people lost their homes and millions more lost their life savings,” Warren said. “Giant banks, however, got hundreds of billions of dollars in bailouts… and he said to me that he has no regrets about anything he did.”
She added that Warsh “worked tirelessly to arrange multibillion-dollar bailouts” for Wall Street CEOs, with nothing for American families.
The hearing grew more tense as Warren pivoted to ethics concerns, pressing Warsh over his undisclosed financial holdings and questioning him over links to business dealings connected to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The two spoke over each other and raised their voices in a heated exchange on Capitol Hill.
WARSH’S $226 MILLION FORTUNE UNDER SCRUTINY AS FED NOMINEE FACES SENATE CONFIRMATION
Sen. Elizabeth Warren: The Fed has been plagued by deeply disturbing ethics scandals in recent years. It’s critical that the next chair have no financial conflicts — none. You have more than $100 million in investments that you have refused to disclose. So let me ask: do the Juggernaut Fund or THSDFS LLC invest in companies affiliated with President Trump or his family, companies tied to money laundering, Chinese-controlled firms, or financing vehicles linked to Jeffrey Epstein?
Kevin Warsh: Senator, I’ve worked closely with the Office of Government Ethics and agreed to divest all of my financial assets.
Warren: Could you answer my question, please? You have more than $100 million in undisclosed assets. Are any of those investments tied to the entities I just mentioned? It’s a yes-or-no question.
Warsh: I have worked tirelessly with ethics officials and agreed to sell all of my assets before taking the oath of office.
Warren: Are you refusing to tell us if you have investments in vehicles linked to Jeffrey Epstein? You just won’t say?
Warsh: What I’m telling you is those assets will be sold if I’m confirmed.
Warren: Will you disclose how you plan to divest these assets? The public might question your motives if, for example, someone who profits from predicting Fed policy cuts you a $100 million check as you take office.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren questions Kevin Warsh during his Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee confirmation hearing on Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Warsh: I’ve reached a full agreement with the Office of Government Ethics and will divest those assets before taking the oath.
Warren: I’m asking a very straightforward question. Will you disclose how you divest those assets?
Warsh: As I’ve said, I’ve worked with ethics officials.
Warren: I’ll take that as a no.
In a separate exchange, Warren invoked Trump’s past statements about the Fed and challenged Warsh to prove his independence in real time.
She insisted that Warsh answer whether he believes Trump won the 2020 presidential election and if he would name policies of the president with which he disagrees. The hopeful future Fed chair dodged the question and said he would remain apolitical, if confirmed.
THE ONE LINE IN WARSH’S TESTIMONY SIGNALING A BREAK FROM THE FED’S STATUS QUO
Warren: Donald Trump has made clear he does not want an independent Fed. He has said, “Anybody that disagrees with me will never be Fed chairman.” He’s also said interest rates will drop “when Kevin gets in.” Let’s check out your independence and your courage. We’ll start easy. Mr. Warsh, did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election?
Warsh: Senator, we should keep politics out of the Federal Reserve.
Warren: I’m asking a factual question.
Warsh: This body certified the election.
Warren: That’s not what I asked. Did Donald Trump lose in 2020?
Warsh: The Fed should stay out of politics.
Warren: In our meeting, you said you’re a “tough guy” who can stand up to President Trump. So name one aspect of his economic agenda you disagree with.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Kevin Warsh listens to a question during a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee confirmation hearing on Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Warsh: That’s not something I’m prepared to do. The Fed should stay in its lane.
Warren: Just one place where you disagree.
Warsh: I do have one disagreement — he said I looked like I was out of central casting. I think I’d look older and grayer.
Warren: That’s adorable. But we need a Fed chair who is independent. If you can’t answer these questions, you don’t have the courage or the independence.
On March 28, a sunny Saturday in southwestern Utah, Jack Hoopes and his wife, Lorna, brought their homemade signs to the local “No Kings” rally.
The couple joined a crowd of 1,500 or so marching through the main picnic area of a park in downtown St. George. Their signs — cut-out words on a black background — chided lawmakers for failing to stand up to President Trump and urged America to “make lying wrong again.”
After about an hour, the two were ready to go home. They got in their silver Volvo SUV, but before pulling away, Jack Hoopes decided to swing past the demonstration, which was still going strong. He tooted his horn, twice, in a show of solidarity.
That’s when things took a curious turn.
A police officer parked in the middle of the street warned Hoopes not to honk; at least that’s what he thinks the officer said as Hoopes drove past the chanting crowd. When he spotted two familiar faces, Hoopes hit the horn a third time — a friendly, howdy sort of honk. “It wasn’t like I was being obnoxious,” he said, “or laying on the horn.”
Hoopes turned a corner and the cop, lights flashing, pulled him over. He asked Hoopes for his license and registration. He returned a few moments later. A passing car sounded its horn. “Are you going to stop him, too?” Hoopes asked.
That did not sit well. The officer said he’d planned to let Hoopes off with a warning. Instead, he charged the 71-year-old retired potato farmer with violating Utah’s law on horns and warning devices. He issued a citation, with a fine punishable up to $50.
Hoopes — a law school graduate and prosecutor in the days before he took up potato farming — is fighting back, even though he estimates the legal skirmishing could cost him considerably more than the maximum fine. The ticket might have resulted from pique on the officer’s part. But Hoopes doesn’t think so. He sees politics at play.
“I’ve beeped my horn for [the pro-law enforcement] Back the Blue. I’ve beeped my horn for Black Lives Matter,” Hoopes said. “I’ve seen a lot of people honk for Trump and for MAGA.”
He’s also seen plenty of times when people honked their horns to celebrate high school championships and the like.
But Hoopes has never heard of anyone being pulled over, much less ticketed, for excessive or unlawful honking. “I think it’s freedom of expression,” he said.
Or should be.
Jack and Lorna Hoopes made their own protest signs to bring to the “No Kings” rally in St. George, Utah.
(Mikayla Whitmore / For The Times)
St. George is a fast-growing community of about 100,000 residents set amid the jagged red-rock peaks of the Mojave Desert. It’s a jumping-off point for Zion National Park, about 40 miles east, and a mecca for golf, hiking and mountain-bike riding.
It’s also Trump Country.
Washington County, where St. George is located, gave Trump 75% of its vote in 2024, with Kamala Harris winning a scant 23%. That emphatic showing compares with Trump’s 59% performance statewide.
St. George is where Hoopes and his wife live most of the time. When summer and its 100-degree temperatures hit, they retreat to southeast Idaho. The couple get along well with their neighbors in both places, Hoopes said, even though they’re Democrats living in ruby-red country. It’s not as though they just tolerate folks, or hold their noses to get by.
“Most of my friends are conservative,” Hoopes said. “Some of the Trump people are very good people. We just have a difference of opinion where our country is going.”
He was speaking from a hotel parking lot in Arizona near Lake Havasu while embarked on an annual motorcycle ride through the Southwest: four days, a dozen riders, 1,200 miles. Most of his companions are Trump supporters, Hoopes said, and, just like back home, everyone gets on fine.
“Right?” he called out.
“No!” a voice hollered back.
Actually, Hoopes joked, his charitable road mates let him ride along because they consider him handicapped — his disability being his political ideology.
Hoopes is not exactly a hellion. In 2014, he and his wife traveled to Africa to participate in humanitarian work and promote sustainable agriculture in Kenya and Uganda. In 2020, they worked as Red Cross volunteers helping wildfire victims in Northern California.
Virtually his entire life has been spent on the right side of the law, though Hoopes allowed as how he has racked up a few speeding tickets over the years. (His career as a prosecutor lasted four years and involved three murder cases in the first 12 months before he left the legal profession behind and took up farming.)
He’s never had any problems with the police in St. George. “They seem to be decent,” Hoopes said.
A department spokesperson, Tiffany Mitchell, said illicit honking is not a widespread problem in the placid, retiree-heavy community, but there are some who have been cited for violations. She denied any political motivation in Hoopes’ case.
“He must’ve felt justified,” Mitchell said of the officer who issued the citation. “I can’t imagine that politics had anything to do with it.”
And yes, she said, honking a horn can be a political statement protected by the 1st Amendment. “But, just like anything else, it can turn criminal,” Mitchell said, and apparently that’s how the officer felt on March 28 “and that’s the direction he took it.”
The matter now rests before a judge, residing in a legal system that has lately been tested and twisted in remarkable ways.
Jack Hoopes’ case is now before a judge in St. George, Utah.
(Mikayla Whitmore / For The Times)
As he left an initial hearing earlier this month, Hoopes said his phone pinged with a fresh headline out of Washington. Trump’s Justice Department, it was reported, was asking a federal appeals court to throw out the convictions of 12 people found guilty of seditious conspiracy for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
“We have a president that pardons people that broke into the Capitol and defecated” in the hallways and congressional offices, Hoopes said. “Police officers died because of it, and yet I get picked up for honking my horn?”
Hoopes’ next court appearance, a pretrial conference, is set for July 15.
-
Vermont4 minutes agoLetter to the Editor: Suzanne Kenyon announces run for Vermont House
-
Virginia10 minutes agoNick Jonas set to perform at Caesars Virginia in June
-
Washington16 minutes agoPulitzer-winning Washington Post editor Dan Eggen found dead at 60 after being laid-off earlier this year
-
Wisconsin21 minutes agoWisconsin’s Mr. Basketball Announces Highly Anticipated Commitment Decision
-
West Virginia28 minutes agoChemical emergency at Kanawha County plant – WV MetroNews
-
Wyoming34 minutes agoWyoming’s Title X Family Planning network remains a critical part of the state’s health care system
-
Crypto40 minutes agoCurrent price of Ethereum for April 22, 2026 | Fortune
-
Finance46 minutes agoGerman finance minister wants to scrap spousal tax splitting