BY PATRICK COURRIELCHE

WITH ADRYANA CORTEZ

BY PATRICK COURRIELCHE

WITH ADRYANA CORTEZ

Tinseltown Travelogue is a three-part series exploring Hollywood's stunning hypocrisy and institutionalized bigotry. This story, months in the making, comes on the heels of the explosive New York Times exposé of alleged sexual misconduct over decades by Tinseltown's most celebrated producer, Harvey Weinstein, and further unmasks an industry in the midst of an ethical unraveling. Instead of confronting Hollywood's biggest "open secret" of systemic moral decay, Tinseltown's elite have chosen to exhibit disdain for everyday Americans through brutal mockery and relentless attacks on their beliefs. Wrapped in scandal and historic box office lows, something brand new is happening to Hollywood…it appears Americans have had enough. This is a Tinseltown intervention.

DEAR RIGHT WINGERS,
WE HATE YOU.

LOVE,
HOLLYWOOD

“Republican in the dictionary comes just after ‘reptile’ and just before ‘repugnant.’” – Julia Roberts, at a 2000 Gore for President fundraiser, organized by Harvey Weinstein

I’ve always known Hollywood despises conservatives. It’s hardly a secret. Lena Dunham, Sean Penn, Scarlett Johansson, Madonna, Whoopie, Stephen Colbert, Robert De Niro, Judd Apatow, Jennifer Lawrence, Rob Reiner. The list is a who’s who of pop culture… and endlessly growing. But I recently sensed a major shift in Tinseltown, and started making some phone calls to see if I was right. “It’s never been worse than it is now,” said a Hollywood veteran who asked not to be named. And why the anonymity? “The big mouths” – major Tinseltown producers are telling studios and networks not to work with anyone associated with Trump.

Welcome to the new #war on the right – Hollywood style.

I’ve always known Hollywood despises conservatives. It’s hardly a secret. Lena Dunham, Sean Penn, Scarlett Johansson, Madonna, Whoopie, Stephen Colbert, Robert De Niro, Judd Apatow, Jennifer Lawrence, Rob Reiner. The list is a who’s who of pop culture… and endlessly growing. But I recently sensed a major shift in Tinseltown, and started making some phone calls to see if I was right. “It’s never been worse than it is now,” said a Hollywood veteran who asked not to be named. And why the anonymity? “The big mouths” – major Tinseltown producers are telling studios and networks not to work with anyone associated with Trump.

Welcome to the new #war on the right – Hollywood style.

Listen to the audio version of this article. Some strong language.

People like me are foreigners in La La Land. The most unhinged voices in this liberal colony think we’re the worst scum imaginable – an idiotic, deplorable, irredeemable, unwashed clan they call right-wingers. Thankfully, many of us couldn’t care less what they think.. Andrew Breitbart warned of how much we were hated in this town, and set up Big Hollywood to even the playing field. And as the New York Times puts it – we’ve been “perfecting the art” of weaponizing their own words against them ever since.

The deplorable bunch in Hollywood is bigger in number than many think, but bullying tactics and blacklist fears have kept most in the closet. As a result, conservatives in Filmville seem as uncommon as a George Clooney hit movie…rarer than an unpilfered joke in Amy Schumer’s standup set. And believe it or not, in some Hollywood circles, being a conservative is more toxic than a grown man spooning in bed with other people’s kids.

If you think I’m exaggerating, you don’t know this town.

Growing up in its shadow, I’ve been in and around the Hollywood swamp for decades. At times I’ve flirted with Tinseltown – if you count dancing on American Bandstand, writing some unfunny jokes for Sarah Silverman and Tracey Morgan, producing a Questlove documentary, and hiring a shit ton of celebs to hype projects. But I’ve mostly made my bones in the art, fashion, and music scene. Nevertheless, success in its sister industries makes rubbing elbows with Hollywood’s elite inevitable.

People like me are foreigners in La La Land. The most unhinged voices in this liberal colony think we’re the worst scum imaginable – an idiotic, deplorable, irredeemable, unwashed clan they call right-wingers. Thankfully, many of us could give two fucks what they think. Andrew Breitbart warned of how much we were hated in this town, and set up Big Hollywood to even the playing field. And as the New York Times puts it – we’ve been “perfecting the art” of weaponizing their own words against them ever since.

The deplorable bunch in Hollywood is bigger in number than many think, but bullying tactics and blacklist fears have kept most in the closet. As a result, conservatives in Filmville seem as uncommon as a George Clooney hit movie…rarer than an unpilfered joke in Amy Schumer’s standup set. And believe it or not, in some Hollywood circles, being a conservative is more toxic than a grown man spooning in bed with other people’s kids.

If you think I’m exaggerating, you don’t know this town.

Growing up in its shadow, I’ve been in and around the Hollywood swamp for decades. At times I’ve flirted with Tinseltown – if you count dancing on American Bandstand, writing some unfunny jokes for Sarah Silverman and Tracey Morgan, producing a Questlove documentary, and hiring a shit ton of celebs to hype projects. But I’ve mostly made my bones in the art, fashion, and music scene. Nevertheless, success in its sister industries makes rubbing elbows with Hollywood’s elite inevitable.

That’s me above – nine months pregnant at a 2007 “Young Hollywood” fundraiser at director Brett Ratner’s mansion. I actually wasn’t in my third trimester – my wife was. I’m told it’s called sympathy weight.

As usually happens here when you enter parenthood, know a few “important” people, and have a little bit of cash, you find yourself inadvertently in a privileged Hollywood circuit – an endless parade of beginner theater plays, music recitals, dance performances, play dates, birthday parties, and parent socials where you hob knob with the real players that make this company town hum. As big as this sprawling city is, Hollywood is a surprisingly small community. You can’t push a Bugaboo around without running over the loafers of a talent agent, studio exec, screenwriter, movie publicist, film score producer or B-list movie star. Nearly everyone touches the biz in some way, shape or form, and is connected to the machine that produces the majority of the world’s traditional entertainment. It’s a club of sorts…where everyone knows each other.

I entered this gilded group as a man in transition. I identified liberal, but was quickly discovering my inner rightwing self. I’d been red pilled, and it forced my eyes open to a widely held, deeply rooted Tinseltown sentiment. And that is…Hollywood hates conservatives. I mean ¡HATES! them. My friends in Middle America think they know this already. Kathy Griffin beheadings, Snoop Dogg’s assassination porn, and every allegedly funny late night talk show host prove this nightly. But unless you live here amongst the glitterati, you can’t truly grasp how the intensity of that white-hot hate is woven into the fabric of this city. The facial expression when a typical La La Land leftist first learns that your politics are right-of-center is unmistakable. It’s a blank, expressionless stare, eyes glazed over, mouth slightly open – and all of this locked in position for a beat too long. It could have an emoji it’s so recognizable. Once this juicy morsel of info is acquired by the “wrong” person, they become Donald Sutherland in the final frames of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

That’s me above – nine months pregnant at a 2007 “Young Hollywood” fundraiser at director Brett Ratner’s mansion. I actually wasn’t in my third trimester – my wife was. I’m told it’s called sympathy weight.

As usually happens here when you enter parenthood, know a few “important” people, and have a little bit of cash, you find yourself inadvertently in a privileged Hollywood circuit – an endless parade of beginner theater plays, music recitals, dance performances, play dates, birthday parties, and parent socials where you hob knob with the real players that make this company town hum. As big as this sprawling city is, Hollywood is a surprisingly small community. You can’t push a Bugaboo around without running over the loafers of a talent agent, studio exec, screenwriter, movie publicist, film score producer or B-list movie star. Nearly everyone touches the biz in some way, shape or form, and is connected to the machine that produces the majority of the world’s traditional entertainment. It’s a club of sorts…where everyone knows each other.

I entered this gilded group as a man in transition. I identified liberal, but was quickly discovering my inner rightwing self. I’d been red pilled, and it forced my eyes open to a widely held, deeply rooted Tinseltown sentiment. And that is…Hollywood hates conservatives. I mean ¡HATES! them. My friends in Middle America think they know this already. Kathy Griffin beheadings, Snoop Dogg’s assassination porn, and every allegedly funny late night talk show host prove this nightly. But unless you live here amongst the glitterati, you can’t truly grasp how the intensity of that white-hot hate is woven into the fabric of this city. The facial expression when a typical La La Land leftist first learns that your politics are right-of-center is unmistakable. It’s a blank, expressionless stare, eyes glazed over, mouth slightly open – and all of this locked in position for a beat too long. It could have an emoji it’s so recognizable. Once this juicy morsel of info is acquired by the “wrong” person, they become Donald Sutherland in the final frames of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

The level of disdain towards conservatives needs to be experienced firsthand to truly be appreciated. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule. My wife and I have Hollywood homies, incredible mentors for our daughter, and regularly interact with “celebrities” who all happen to be tolerant liberals. We don't care about their politics. But like citing Fox News as proof that liberals don’t dominate the media, these exceptions prove the rule.

Being of Mexican descent, my wife likes to say that we were initially shielded from knee-jerk bigotry by our brown cards. So I didn’t really feel the full force of the hate until a few years after the birth of my daughter – when my wife and I began butting heads with some prominent members of this monolithically liberal society.

Our first major run-in seemed like a no brainer – confronting a grown man who cuddled other people’s kids…in bed. It was slam-dunk material.

It all started the way all of these affairs usually do – with a few of the Hollywood wives, the true guardians of this star-studded galaxy, gabbing away on a moms-only weekend retreat. In the midst of their morning powwow, a big time Tinseltown player’s wife brought up a touchy subject – one of the fathers creeped her out. Her daughter had been at a sleepover and told her she saw this creepy dad crawl onto the top bunk in the late of night to cuddle with a second grader…not his own. Another mom described a similar incident when her child did a sleepover at the same dad’s house. My wife chimed in with her own account of Creepy Dad red-flag episodes, including yet another time he napped with a different child – not his own – during a play date.

Were the younglings distraught and in need of comforting? Maybe. But should a grown man spoon with them to calm their nerves? I think most parents, no matter their political persuasion, would answer absofuckinglutely not!

The impromptu story swap lit off a firestorm around the table – and moments later husbands’ cells started ringing because it dawned on the moms that at that very moment their baby daddies and children were at the same play date as Creepy Dad. To say that what came next was “mind altering” would be like saying Bruce Jenner had a makeover – technically true…but mildly understated.

The level of disdain towards conservatives needs to be experienced firsthand to truly be appreciated. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule. My wife and I have Hollywood homies, incredible mentors for our daughter, and regularly interact with “celebrities” who all happen to be tolerant liberals. We don't care about their politics. But like citing Fox News as proof that liberals don’t dominate the media, these exceptions prove the rule.

Being of Mexican descent, my wife likes to say that we were initially shielded from knee-jerk bigotry by our brown cards. So I didn’t really feel the full force of the hate until a few years after the birth of my daughter – when my wife and I began butting heads with some prominent members of this monolithically liberal society.

Our first major run-in seemed like a no brainer – confronting a grown man who cuddled other people’s kids…in bed. It was slam-dunk material.

It all started the way all of these affairs usually do – with a few of the Hollywood wives, the true guardians of this star-studded galaxy, gabbing away on a moms-only weekend retreat. In the midst of their morning powwow, a big time Tinseltown player’s wife brought up a touchy subject – one of the fathers creeped her out. Her daughter had been at a sleepover and told her she saw this creepy dad crawl onto the top bunk in the late of night to cuddle with a second grader…not his own. Another mom described a similar incident when her child did a sleepover at the same dad’s house. My wife chimed in with her own account of Creepy Dad red-flag episodes, including yet another time he napped with a different child – not his own – during a play date.

Were the younglings distraught and in need of comforting? Maybe. But should a grown man spoon with them to calm their nerves? I think most parents, no matter their political persuasion, would answer absofuckinglutely not!

The impromptu story swap lit off a firestorm around the table – and moments later husbands’ cells started ringing because it dawned on the moms that at that very moment their baby daddies and children were at the same play date as Creepy Dad. To say that what came next was “mind altering” would be like saying Bruce Jenner had a makeover – technically true…but mildly understated.

A few of us dads unanimously agreed that the issue needed to be addressed. Where I come from, these types of matters aren’t handled so civilly. They more resemble the end of those ISIS propaganda videos where they capture an American journalist. But amongst the Hollywood elite, situations like these are dealt with very discretely – largely because money, real money, of which pretty much everyone has access to within this community, tends to change the dynamics of confrontation. This point cannot be overstated. Hollywood’s elite aren’t just rich…to quote my wife, they’re “frich” – or fucking rich. Tinseltown is largely the playground of aristocrats, with many coming from generations of moneyed families. Variety, Hollywood’s self-professed publication of record, boasts that its readers have the highest average household income of any magazine in America. The privilege this level of wealth bequeaths is something most people don’t even know exists. And in their defense, the frich are oblivious to it as well because they have been living it their entire lives.

Over a couple of days, Creepy Dad was confronted by each of us – offering no denial of the incidents, and in my case, coming off a tad coached. None of us was sure where it would go next, but a hint came when his wife, Mrs. Creepy, stepped in. Her message: showing “love” to children was not creepy, shame on anyone who thinks otherwise, and nothing was going to change in their household. According to her, we were the weird ones. A few days later, Mr. and Mrs. Creepy, in a seeming act of defiance, astonishingly hosted a “sleepover party” for six year-olds. It ignited a shit storm, the likes of which I’ve never experienced before – with word of our intervention spreading like wildfire. The only thing that travels faster than the speed of light is gossip through the Hollywood grapevine. Parents were frantic over Creepy Dad’s behavior. In the midst of the commotion, another Hollywood wife we didn’t really know came forward to tell us that Mr. and Mrs. Creepy were actually confronted several years earlier, by different parents, over disturbing behavior concerning children. Apparently, this wasn’t their first time at the rodeo.

At its peak, nearly everyone that approached us within this microcosm of Tinseltown expressed the opinion that the behavior was deeply inappropriate at best, and something far more nefarious at worst. Everyone involved, including my wife and I, wanted the controversy to end. But when it wouldn’t…we started to sense something was afoot.

A few of us dads unanimously agreed that the issue needed to be addressed. Where I come from, these types of matters aren’t handled so civilly. They more resemble the end of those ISIS propaganda videos where they capture an American journalist. But amongst the Hollywood elite, situations like these are dealt with very discretely – largely because money, real money, of which pretty much everyone has access to within this community, tends to change the dynamics of confrontation. This point cannot be overstated. Hollywood’s elite aren’t just rich…to quote my wife, they’re “frich” – or fucking rich. Tinseltown is largely the playground of aristocrats, with many coming from generations of moneyed families. Variety, Hollywood’s self-professed publication of record, boasts that its readers have the highest average household income of any magazine in America. The privilege this level of wealth bequeaths is something most people don’t even know exists. And in their defense, the frich are oblivious to it as well because they have been living it their entire lives.

Over a couple of days, Creepy Dad was confronted by each of us – offering no denial of the incidents, and in my case, coming off a tad coached. None of us was sure where it would go next, but a hint came when his wife, Mrs. Creepy, stepped in. Her message: showing “love” to children was not creepy, shame on anyone who thinks otherwise, and nothing was going to change in their household. According to her, we were the weird ones. A few days later, Mr. and Mrs. Creepy, in a seeming act of defiance, astonishingly hosted a “sleepover party” for six year-olds. It ignited a shit storm, the likes of which I’ve never experienced before – with word of our intervention spreading like wildfire. The only thing that travels faster than the speed of light is gossip through the Hollywood grapevine. Parents were frantic over Creepy Dad’s behavior. In the midst of the commotion, another Hollywood wife we didn’t really know came forward to tell us that Mr. and Mrs. Creepy were actually confronted several years earlier, by different parents, over disturbing behavior concerning children. Apparently, this wasn’t their first time at the rodeo.

At its peak, nearly everyone that approached us within this microcosm of Tinseltown expressed the opinion that the behavior was deeply inappropriate at best, and something far more nefarious at worst. Everyone involved, including my wife and I, wanted the controversy to end. But when it wouldn’t…we started to sense something was afoot.

In the real world, the outrage would have continued unabated until either The Creepies publicly repented and slithered quietly away, or were run out of Dodge by the angry villagers. But Mr. and Mrs. Creepy knew something my wife and I didn’t understand at the time – in Hollywood, there’s something more toxic than spooning in bed with other people’s kids.

A friend of The Creepies, another Hollywood wife, approached my better half as a sort of ambassador – attempting to explain away her friend’s conduct. When her flawed argument was rejected, Mrs. Ambassador let it slip.

“Well, [Mrs. Creepy] did say you guys were conservatives.”

Word was getting back to us that The Creepies, in a seeming attempt at deflection, were telling anyone that would listen that my wife and I were right wingers – unrelated intel anywhere but in La La Land. Within a matter of weeks, the spotlight had shifted from their creepy behavior to our politics. The turn was startling.

We’d faced Hollywood bigotry towards conservatives before – dating back to my early days with Breitbart News. The morning after my first appearance on Fox News as a Big Hollywood contributor, I was gifted with a keyed car – which was later graduated to a tire slashing. The vitriol reached a peak when a neighbor came to our front door with a bat. Then during the 2012 campaign, a lovely liberal TV exec used my daughter to attack our politics – opening the door for another Hollywoodian to joke about her being raped. Yes…rape jokes…about a five year-old. Back then, the instances of aggression were done by anonymous cowards or people that didn’t really know us well. But this time we were feeling the bigotry from some highfalutin Tinseltown players that we interacted with regularly. Sane people had suddenly gone mad.

When the dust settled, astonishingly it was The Conservatives, not The Creepies, who were on the outs. However, the level of bigotry would reach maximum velocity with the birth of the Trump campaign. In the heat of the election cycle, The Creepies and their hard-left minions were at it again – this time promoting, correctly, that we were Trump supporters. Hawaii group vacations were canceled, play dates postponed, and intimidation and public shaming commenced on social media. Parents even enlisted their kids in the warfare, posting images of them beating Trump piñatas, posing laughing at Trump’s nude sculpture, declaring idiot Trump voters were dead to them – and one talentless screenwriter fat shamed my wife on social media for all to see. So much for love trumps hate.

As disturbing as their behavior was, this story is not about the “outing” of The Creepies. Rest assured, we put them on notice and authorities were alerted. The inclusion of this anecdote was to illustrate one simple point: the venom toward the Deplorables is so toxic that some of Hollywood’s finest would rather (metaphorically) jump in the sack with a guy who spoons kids than with someone who is ideologically in bed with Trump. This blind discrimination needs to end because it’s not just affecting right-wingers based in Hollywood…it’s damaging the entire film industry and American culture at large.

In the real world, the outrage would have continued unabated until either The Creepies publicly repented and slithered quietly away, or were run out of Dodge by the angry villagers. But Mr. and Mrs. Creepy knew something my wife and I didn’t understand at the time – in Hollywood, there’s something more toxic than spooning in bed with other people’s kids.

A friend of The Creepies, another Hollywood wife, approached my better half as a sort of ambassador – attempting to explain away her friend’s conduct. When her flawed argument was rejected, Mrs. Ambassador let it slip.

“Well, [Mrs. Creepy] did say you guys were conservatives.”

Word was getting back to us that The Creepies, in a seeming attempt at deflection, were telling anyone that would listen that my wife and I were right wingers – unrelated intel anywhere but in La La Land. Within a matter of weeks, the spotlight had shifted from their creepy behavior to our politics. The turn was startling.

We’d faced Hollywood bigotry towards conservatives before – dating back to my early days with Breitbart News. The morning after my first appearance on Fox News as a Big Hollywood contributor, I was gifted with a keyed car – which was later graduated to a tire slashing. The vitriol reached a peak when a neighbor came to our front door with a bat. Then during the 2012 campaign, a lovely liberal TV exec used my daughter to attack our politics – opening the door for another Hollywoodian to joke about her being raped. Yes…rape jokes…about a five year-old. Back then, the instances of aggression were done by anonymous cowards or people that didn’t really know us well. But this time we were feeling the bigotry from some highfalutin Tinseltown players that we interacted with regularly. Sane people had suddenly gone mad.

When the dust settled, astonishingly it was The Conservatives, not The Creepies, who were on the outs. However, the level of bigotry would reach maximum velocity with the birth of the Trump campaign. In the heat of the election cycle, The Creepies and their hard-left minions were at it again – this time promoting, correctly, that we were Trump supporters. Hawaii group vacations were canceled, play dates postponed, and intimidation and public shaming commenced on social media. Parents even enlisted their kids in the warfare, posting images of them beating Trump piñatas, posing laughing at Trump’s nude sculpture, declaring idiot Trump voters were dead to them – and one talentless screenwriter fat shamed my wife on social media for all to see. So much for love trumps hate.

As disturbing as their behavior was, this story is not about the “outing” of The Creepies. Rest assured, we put them on notice and authorities were alerted. The inclusion of this anecdote was to illustrate one simple point: the venom toward the Deplorables is so toxic that some of Hollywood’s finest would rather (metaphorically) jump in the sack with a guy who spoons kids than with someone who is ideologically in bed with Trump. This blind discrimination needs to end because it’s not just affecting right-wingers based in Hollywood…it’s damaging the entire film industry and American culture at large.

Every so often an ambitious mainstream journalist will write about Hollywood bigotry towards conservatives – but without fail, it amounts to a fallen tree in the forest…it makes no noise.

“The media does a story on it maybe once or twice a year, it’s kind of the same story but different players, and there’s never any momentum from it,” says Christian Toto – a film critic and long-time chronicler of Tinseltown’s liberal bias.

And he’s right. There’ve been countless sprawling essays, passionate pleas, and angry petitions published on the subject. Secret Hollywood conservative groups pop up every few years – the Wednesday Morning Club, the Sunday Night Club, Friends of Abe – all to little or no avail. I’ve addressed the issue before myself, in 2011, and since then Hollywood’s hate towards conservatives has only deepened.

“You hear the term ‘institutionalized racism.’ Well I think this behavior is institutionalized in a way,” says Toto.

But why? What are the reasons behind Hollywood’s hatred of the right and why has it persisted? What has been the reaction from the people experiencing it? And perhaps most importantly to this company town, what is it doing to the business of entertainment?

Big Hollywood has given me the opportunity to delve into these topics. Many I spoke to feel I’m taking on the impossible – to convince Tinseltown that for the sake of their industry’s future, they must respect the deplorables.

A friend reminded me of Gregory Peck’s character, Phillip Green, in the 1947 film Gentleman’s Agreement. In it, Mr. Green is a journalist put on assignment to expose anti-Semitism in American society. Because so much had been written on the topic with little effect, the writer was hesitant to take on the story.

“What can I possibly say that hasn’t been said before?” asked Mr. Green

“I dunno. Maybe it hasn’t been said well enough,” replied his mother.