Vince Vaughn Risks Hollywood Blowback by Teaming with Glenn Beck

Actor Vince Vaughn’s next project is sure to make his Hollywood peers more than a little jumpy.

The “Wedding Crashers” star is teaming up with Glenn Beck – yes, that Glenn Beck – to produce a reality show for the talker’s GBTV network.

The show is called “Pursuit of Truth,” and it pits 20 documentary filmmakers against one another, with the grand prize being the financing and distribution of their documentary film….

Vaughn and Peter Billingsley of Wild West Productions, along with Gary Auerbach of Go Go Luckey Entertainment, and Beck will be reviewing potential contestants, according to the show’s casting site. The deadline for submissions is Jan. 31, 2013.

This isn’t Vaughn’s first flirtation with the Right. He supported Ron Paul for president both in 2008 and last year. Pairing with Beck shows particular courage, though, given the Left’s outright animosity toward the popular talker.

Vaughn’s peers may not have known about the Paul endorsements, but this news will be impossible to ignore. Kudos to the “Swingers” star for not kowtowing to industry expectations. He easily could have kept his political allegiances to himself, or used his clout in a low-key fashion as with his Paul connection.

Instead, he’s letting the world know he’s not afraid of teaming with a conservative if the deal makes sense on a business level.

Just because Vaughn is an established star doesn’t mean he won’t feel heat for this decision. Even a screen icon like Clint Eastwood felt serious blowback after supporting Mitt Romney with his “empty chair” speech at the RNC. Vaughn is sure to meet the Hollywood blacklist; he’s a big enough star to withstand total blacklisting, but there’s no question he will lose parts and credibility in the Tinseltown cocktail circles. It’s a tribute to him that he’s willing to move forward with the project anyway.

In Hollywood, palling around with the likes of Roman Polanski and Fidel Castro won’t damage your brand. Agreeing to team with Beck on a purely pragmatic project, however, is a sin not easily forgiven.