Oscar-Bashing To Trump-Lauding: Kirstie Alley Marshals Hollywood’s Right-Wing Brigade

In a now-deleted tweet, Kirstie Alley wrote: “This is a disgrace to artists everywhere… Can you imagine telling Picasso what had to be in his f****** paintings.

Responding to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ new set of inclusion requirements for Oscar award-eligible films, 69-year old actress, Kirstie Alley took to Twitter calling the rules a “disgrace to artists everywhere”. Her tweet continued:

“You people have lost your minds. Control artists, control individual thought .. OSCAR ORWELL. (sic)”

The new set of representation and inclusion standards, announced on 8 September by the Academy, stipulate that movies will have to tick at least two of four representation boxes, which have a number of subcategories. These standards, which will come into effect starting 2024 are an effort “to encourage equitable representation on and off-screen in order to better reflect the diversity of the movie-going audience”.

However, the Look Who’s Talking star, felt that the rules are “dictatorial”. She went on to say: “I’ve been in the motion picture Academy for 40 years. The Academy celebrates freedom of UNBRIDLED artistry expressed through movies.

“The new RULES to qualify for “best picture” are dictatorial .. anti-artist…Hollywood you’re swinging so far left you’re bumping into your own ass (sic)”

Nonetheless, a few hours later, Alley came back to tweet, that diversity and inclusion “should be taught, taught so well and so naturally and genuinely that it becomes second nature to our children.”

The backlash was swift and the actress took down her tweet saying it was a “poor analogy and misrepresented my viewpoint.”

The Hollywood star was criticized by Twitterati for her views, as many lauded the new rules as being first steps towards equity and inclusion in Hollywood:

While others panned Alley’s ‘racist’ stance and bemoaned her views over giving people “opportunity”.

Alley’s Spats with Critics

Oscar-nominated director Ava DuVernay, is reported to have responded to Alley’s tweets with a GIF of Denzel Washington shutting a door in someone’s face. Du Vernay is the first African American woman to have won the best director award in the dramatic competition at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.

Kirstie responded by asking to explore “my record of diversity and inclusion.”

However, DuVernay’s tweet is since unavailable but has been captured as a screen grab.

The self-confessed Trump supporter and voter, Kirstie Alley, also got into a tweet spat with Marvel comic book writer, Ethan Sacks, who branded Alley ‘racist’ over her Oscar bashing tweet.

Responding to another tweeter he wrote: “I’ll also never be as racist as her, too!”

Alley came with a jab on his grammar: ‘Yikes Ethan, “also” and “too” in the same sentence is redundant. I’ll correct for you. “I’ll also never be as racist as she.” Sweet dreams Ethan.’

The pair went on where Sacks mocked the idea that rules would make a difference to Alley’s chances of snagging an award.

He tweeted: “Don’t worry, a little inclusion won’t be what’s keeping that Oscar statuette off your mantle….”, to which she replied with invective.  

Even so, Alley was not alone, some other right-wing actors agreed with the Cheers star. And also slammed the new requirements upset at what they branded ‘woke Hollywood’.

Conservative, Oscar-nominated actor 73-year old James Woods shared an article about the new standards and tweeted the word  ‘madness’. 

American character actor, Nick Searcy also criticized the new rules calling them a weapon by the “woke brigade” Overall, however, the new rules have been welcomed, albeit with some questions and concerns over loopholes. Noting the initial change in the Academy’s inclusivity initiative, TV Producer and “Good Trouble” writer Ashly Perez tweeted:

This is certainly progress but unless it’s one of every category required it still won’t be enough

Nonetheless, Perez also acknowledged the loopholes in the new rules. Her tweet further read, “There are loopholes galore. However, I do hope this will at least make studios start thinking about whose stories they tell and why.”

Host, producer and writer of The Outlaw Nation John Rocha welcomed the changes and expressed concern drawing attention to the Academy’s previous “clumsy” attempts at diversity.

The Academy’s diversity and inclusion requirement standards for best picture will come into effect in 2024.

Twitter Frenzy Over Kirstie Alley’s Praise Of Trump

The Oscar incident is not the first time Kirstie Alley has been in the face of a storm over her pro-right wing tweets. In March this year, she invited Twitter frenzy over her comments praising US President Donald Trump for taking charge of the coronavirus pandemic. She thanked the President for his “recent decorum, sincerity & care” for Americans.”

This enraged Twitterati who were aghast with her tweets and she spatted with a few.

Comedian John Melendez blasted Alley for her views on Trump, with this tweet:

Alley responded with a “BlAh blAh blAh” in an attempt to show that she was not fazed by such views. However, belying the show of indifference, she came back a few hours later with a tweet calling her critics “chimers.” “You can tell a lot about people who belittle you for your views and beliefs, when u aren’t even TALKING TO THEM! My bestie and I call these people CHIMERS ..they ALWAYS chime in when u are speaking to someone else,” the actress tweeted.

The star has continued to be been quite supportive of President Trump’s oft-questioned claims on Covid-cures. Understandably, this has stirred up a lot of critical commentary on Twitter.

In June, the actress tweeted that she was “taking control of Covid” and in the same tweet, bizarrely called for the impeachment of Nancy Pelosi.

In August, she tweeted that she planned to get a prescription for Hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malarial drug which Trump had been touting as a cure for the virus.

Kirstie even responded to a Twitter user who posed the theory that Sars is a completely different disease to COVID. The actress wrote: “I could be wrong but think they are very similar. Anyway my whole point is if I got COVID, or anyone I loved got it I would ensure they got zinc, Zpac and Hydroxychloroquine.”

President Trump then thanked Kirstie Alley for her flattery.