Some of the same Hollywood dingbats who previously smeared President Donald Trump as a “dictator” and “pig” are now begging him for a grand favor.
Over 400 Hollywood entertainers and power players have signed an open letter to the Trump administration begging the president to not roll back copyright protections, especially as it pertains to artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
“We firmly believe that America’s global AI leadership must not come at the expense of our essential creative industries,” the letter reads. “America’s arts and entertainment industry supports over 2.3M American jobs with over $229Bn in wages annually, while providing the foundation for American democratic influence and soft power abroad.”
“But AI companies are asking to undermine this economic and cultural strength by weakening copyright protections for the films, television series, artworks, writing, music, and voices used to train AI models at the core of multi-billion dollar corporate valuations,” the letter continues.
URGENT TONIGHT: Open Letter on Copyright Protection and AI – please sign and share far and wide, if this concerns you. https://t.co/MMiVxnwIwJ
— Nick Confalone (@nickconfalone) March 16, 2025
According to Variety magazine, the letter was written in response to OpenAI and Google’s assertion — reportedly made to the Office of Science and Technology Policy — that U.S. copyright laws should permit them to train their AI systems on copyrighted works without obtaining permission or compensating the works’ owners.
The Hollywood stars complain in their letter that OpenAI and Google “are arguing for a special government exemption so they can freely exploit America’s creative and knowledge industries, despite their substantial revenues and available funds.”
“There is no reason to weaken or eliminate the copyright protections that have helped America flourish,” their letter reads.
Vast hypocrisy will come into play as Open AI claim copyright protections for their own software, while denying that all the writing, film, personal messages, images and music they scrape has any right to copyright protection. pic.twitter.com/AHzp8Mh8or
— Ewan Morrison (@MrEwanMorrison) January 14, 2025
Those who signed the letter include Ben Stiller, Mark Ruffalo, Guillermo del Toro, Natasha Lyonne, Paul McCartney, Cynthia Erivo, Cate Blanchett, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Cord Jefferson, Bette Midler, Ava Duvernay, Paul Simon, Aubrey Plaza, Ángel Manuel Soto, Ron Howard, Taika Waititi, Ayo Edebiri, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lily Gladstone, Sam Mendes, Brit Marling, Janelle Monáe, Bryn Mooser, Rian Johnson, Paul Giamatti, Maggie Gylenhall, Alfonso Cuaron, Olivia Wilde, Judd Apatow, Kim Gordon, Chris Rock, and Michaela Coel, among others.
What’s notable about this list is how many rabid Trump haters it contains.
“I despise Donald Trump with all my guts, and his speech last night only confirmed what a pathetic, petulant, dishonest pig he is,” actress Olivia Wilde wrote on Instagram after Trump delivered a press conference in 2017.
Then there’s filmmaker Ron Howard:
In the entertainment industry many who have known/worked w/ Trump think that while his reality show was fun and ran a long time, he’s a self-serving, dishonest,morally bankrupt ego maniac who doesn’t care about anything or anyone but his Fame & bank account & is hustling the US https://t.co/Ep8ggvquMY
— Ron Howard (@RealRonHoward) January 1, 2020
“There is no one keeping America safe from being looted by Trump and Elon,” actor Mark Ruffalo likewise tweeted just last month.
And don’t forget actress Bette Midler, who’s spent years disparaging Trump, and who just a few months ago suggested she’d drink Drano if then-GOP presidential nominee Trump won the 2024 presidential election.
Months earlier, she claimed Trump had put a hit out on singer Taylor Swift.
“#Trump rage-tweeting his hate for #TaylorSwift is not just dangerous, it’s illegal,” she wrote in a since-deleted tweet after Trump expressed his hatred for Swift. “He is putting out a hit on her, and we all know it. He wants his minions to do his dirty work, and you know they will. If she is hurt, he will deny that he knows anything about it, as he always…”
WTH?? Bette Midler claims Trump put out ‘a hit’ on Taylor Swift, reposts conspiracy theory https://t.co/q08usVHuwr via @BIZPACReview
— BPR based (@DumpstrFireNews) September 17, 2024
Although the examples of these Hollywood types trash-talking Trump go on for days and days, they still had the nerve to write him a letter demanding this, that, and the other.
This isn’t to say they don’t have a point about AI and the violation of copyright laws. It’s just that they may not have been the best people to present this point to the president.
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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