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Posted on 05/15/2026 5:11:07 AM PDT by Red Badger
The hosts of ABC’s daytime program The View tore into Billy Bob Thornton after the actor explained that he prefers not to discuss politics, claiming that remaining quiet amounts to complicity.
Thornton, currently starring in the Paramount+ series Landman, made the remarks during an appearance on the Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast.
He told Mandel that he intentionally avoids political commentary, citing comedian Ricky Gervais’s past warning to award show attendees to accept their trophies and move on.
“I don’t know anything about politics,” Thornton said.
“I have no idea. And the stuff that I do believe, I don’t want to force it down somebody else’s throat because I’m not an expert on that.”
After playing a clip of the interview, The View’s hosts reacted strongly to his approach of steering clear of political debates and focusing instead on entertainment.
Joy Behar blasted Thornton’s remarks, saying, “Imagine bragging about how uninformed you are,” and described his stance as foolish.
Sunny Hostin agreed, emphasizing what she sees as a civic duty for public figures to speak out. “We are at a crisis point in this country. I think democracy is participatory,” she stated.
Hostin went further, arguing that celebrities with influence have a responsibility to use their platform. “When you have a platform, that means I have an outsized voice and when you have a platform, I think that you have a responsibility to speak up about what’s going on in this country and my view silence is complicity. We need every single ally to speak out.”
However, Alyssa Farah Griffin countered that the panel’s reactions showed inconsistency. She pointed out that the same hosts had previously criticized George Clooney when he publicly urged Joe Biden to step aside.
“A lot of this table criticized George Clooney when he wrote his Biden op-ed,” Griffin said. “That is a celebrity using his voice, saying what he believes, it can’t just be when they agree with your position.”
Behar pushed back, arguing that criticizing Thornton was her own exercise of free speech. She noted that while Thornton could speak freely, so could she in disagreeing with him.
Griffin maintained that forcing actors to speak out was unfair and counterproductive. She dismissed much of Hollywood activism as “slacktivism,” saying too many celebrities speak out without understanding the issues. “I don’t think we should bully people, saying, ‘You have to speak out,’” she added.
Sara Haines also expressed skepticism about celebrity activism, noting that much of what entertainers say only resonates with people who already agree with them and rarely persuades anyone new.
WATCH:
VIDEO AT LINK...................
Throughout the exchange, the panel remained divided over whether artists have a social responsibility to engage politically or if choosing neutrality is just as valid a stance.
Thornton, for his part, has not responded publicly to the panel’s criticism and continues to promote his current series.
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The Thought Police at the View don’t like it when others don’t share their views and share them out loud.
“Imagine bragging about how uninformed you are!”
Imagine bragging about thinking you know everything but really know squat? In the most annoying, nasally voice. Evah!
That’s why it’s called THE View.
There is only ONE ‘view’ that is allowed...........
“The View” is a show hosted by morons, for morons.
I’m reminded of an old saying about a foot, mouth, and a fool...
Love Billy Bob...his performance in Landman makes him the alpha male. (Just imagine him standing next to Dormbama, the Muslim eunuch quota selectee).
As for the entire cast of “The View”, flush twice, it’s a long way to LA.
The radical left has a saying: “Silence is violence.”
Meaning your silence is actually a violent behavior, directed towards them. So they have every right to respond forcefully.
Mr. Thornton just got a little taste of that.
Matches other body parts.
Not that I am saying Thornton is wise or intelligent, but the sign of a wise and intelligent person is to know the limitations of their own intellect. On what they know and/or do not know. And also know when to keep one’s mouth shut. Something those on the View have no clue about.
They want to cancel him if they should get a whiff of a possible conservative.
“...emphasizing what she sees as a civic duty for public figures to speak out...”
They are paid to pretend to be someone else. Just like athletes are paid to play. Just shut-up and do your job. The average “celebrity” is an uneducated table waiter who got a lucky break. I neither want nor care about their opinion.
It has become so bad I don’t watch any network tv and haven’t been to a theatre in over 10 years or so.
That applies to a lot of people on a lot of subjects these days, and it’s politically blind.
Or maybe Yakety Sax.
“Do not confuse “duty” with what other people expect of you; they are utterly different. Duty is a debt you owe to yourself to fulfill obligations you have assumed voluntarily. Paying that debt can entail anything from years of patient work to instant willingness to die. Difficult it may be, but the reward is self-respect.
But there is no reward at all for doing what other people expect of you, and to do so is not merely difficult, but impossible. It is easier to deal with a footpad than it is with the leech who wants “just a few minutes of your time, please—this won’t take long.” Time is your total capital, and the minutes of your life are painfully few. If you allow yourself to fall into the vice of agreeing to such requests, they quickly snowball to the point where these parasites will use up 100 percent of your time—and squawk for more!
So learn to say No—and to be rude about it when necessary. Otherwise you will not have time to carry out your duty, or to do your own work, and certainly no time for love and happiness. The termites will nibble away your life and leave none of it for you.
(This rule does not mean that you must not do a favor for a friend, or even a stranger. But let the choice be yours. Don’t do it because it is “expected” of you.)”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love
Think Anthony Hopkins in “The Remains of the Day”. Brilliant. Dissed by one of Europe’s leaders when he had no opinion. This ‘leader’ and the others took us all to war. His boss was protective of him but was a big part of the problem.
I can honestly say that I have never watched any retarded episode of The View.
These women are incapable of thinking, so their opinions mean nothing.
Thornton is being wise because he does nothing to turn off people watching what he does best.
Thornton is protecting the legacy of, one and perhaps the very best, television productions ever made
“The United States has become a place where entertainers and professional athletes are mistaken for people of importance.” - Robert Heinlein
Left wing actors become box office poison. Just ask De Niro. Not to mention if Billy Bob came out as a conservative the gargoyles of The View would call him a racist in a New York second.
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