Patricia Heaton Gets Heat For Supporting Rush

[RicoGregg]

Gossip among show-biz types here in L.A. have said for years that she was going to cause problems with her right-wing leanings.

But, the acting profession will not blacklist her. Never. That's something powerful conservatives have the history of doing.

The story: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2012/03/patricia-heaton-sandra-fluke-twitter-rush-limbaugh.html?track=icymi

 

[vchimpanzee]

Oh, wow.

Well, I do like her on "The Middle". That won't change.

I do respect that she got upset about the Osbournes' awards show behavior, though I enjoy that as long as I don't have to hear the actual words.

 

[Markxxx]

I don't care much. As hurtful and as inaccurate as Rush is, and those who get behind him, at the end of the day, these people ARE just speaking their mind.

Perhaps they would be better off shutting up, but it's their choice. The difference is peons like me don't get to be heard, or know better to keep our mouths shut.

They have a right to speak their mind and I have a right to disagree with them. And I have a right not to watch their show because of it.

It's a case of what is more important to you.

 

[LKellerIII]

I don't care much. As hurtful and as inaccurate as Rush is, and those who get behind him, at the end of the day, these people ARE just speaking their mind.

Perhaps they would be better off shutting up, but it's their choice. The difference is peons like me don't get to be heard, or know better to keep our mouths shut.

They have a right to speak their mind and I have a right to disagree with them. And I have a right not to watch their show because of it.

It's a case of what is more important to you.

Right. I enjoy her work. Same with Kelsey Grammar, Tom Selleck, and Bruce Willis. Would I like them more if they agreed with me politically? Not really. And if you gave me a few minutes, I'm sure I could think of some liberal actors I DON'T like...but why bother.

I'm going to take a wild guess and assume that in real life Heaton doesn't live in a messy little suburban home in Indiana. More like a very large house in Bel Air with a couple of maids to clean up after her.

The point is - they are ACTORS. I watch them play fictional characters to be entertained.

 

[FreddyE1977]

She's been an outspoken Conservative and a friend of Rush for years.
If that many people had a problem with her she would not have gotten the
gig on The Middle.

 

[RicoGregg]

According to an actor friend I spoke to earlier today, Patricia Heaton is apparently one of those people who is a walking contrast: If you don't talk politics with her, she's a sweetheart.

Reportedly, on the set of the short-lived sitcom Back To You that she did with Kelsey Grammar, the tension was supposedly so thick that World War Three was expected to break out at any time.

However, the dissention on the set was only between them. Just about everyone on the crew and behind the scenes adored her, and she apparently treated everyone with respect.

I think we've all known people like that. Part of what makes the world go 'round.

 

[LKellerIII]

According to an actor friend I spoke to earlier today, Patricia Heaton is apparently one of those people who is a walking contrast: If you don't talk politics with her, she's a sweetheart.

Reportedly, on the set of the short-lived sitcom Back To You that she did with Kelsey Grammar, the tension was supposedly so thick that World War Three was expected to break out at any time.

However, the dissention on the set was only between them. Just about everyone on the crew and behind the scenes adored her, and she apparently treated everyone with respect.I think we've all known people like that. Part of what makes the world go 'round.

So obviously the tension between Heaton and Grammar was not based on politics, given that they're both conservative.


One of my closest friends is a conservative, and she's personally a very giving and charitable person. But she's also a Sarah Palin loving, Michael Savage listening right-winger. We try to avoid talking politics.

 

[RicoGregg]

So obviously the tension between Heaton and Grammar was not based on politics, given that they're both conservative. 

My own speculation on this is from what very little I knew about the situation there, which is practically next-to-nothing (at least I'm being honest). I'm guessing from gathered bits of information that Grammar did not much care for the way that she wore her conservatism on her sleeve. He may have felt that she did not need to be a news story about being a conservative in Hollywood.

In fairness to Mr. Grammar, he did create the part for Ms. Heaton, and wanted her specifically for that role.

If everyone in Hollywood could kill everyone in the biz that they hate, then the streets would be emptier than Calico Ghost Town. 

I'm a lifelong liberal Democrat, and I certainly have not liked every liberal or Democrat there ever was. Some of "our people", like Lyndon Johnson, Robert S. McNamara, Abbie Hoffman, Jane Fonda (a totally ridiculous woman), Jimmy Carter, and both Albert and Tipper Gore have been embarrassments to our various causes.

In 2000, I seriously considered voting for Bush because I was already well familiar with what phonies Prince Albert and Tipper were. Instead, I literally held my nose at the ballot box when voting for the party of my choice.

If Gore truly was robbed of the Presidency, then it couldn't have happened to someone more deserving. Whoever did the screw job may have done the country a huge favor.

With that rant said, my point is that I don't imagine that every Republican likes every Republican, or that every conservative likes every conservative.

In all sorts of life, opposites attract. When you were a kid, did you ever take two bar magnets and put the two "South" ends (or "North" ends) together? You couldn't. They repelled. But when you put one "North" and one "South" end together, - CLOMP! And, it was hard to pull them apart.

One of my closest friends is a conservative, and she's personally a very giving and charitable person.  But she's also a Sarah Palin loving, Michael Savage listening right-winger.  We try to avoid talking politics.

And that, my friend, is showing wisdom on your part. You know what they say about the better part of valor.

 

[71dude]

As a Democrat I will happily watch Ms. Heaton and Mr. Grammer in their shows rather than movies with Alec Baldwin, Barbra Streisand and Rosie O'Donnell. I love "The Middle" now but I avoided it initially not for political reasons but because I feared Patty would be playing another strident harpy. Just keep the politics out of the show, please.

 

[FreddyE1977]

Reportedly, on the set of the short-lived sitcom Back To You that she did with Kelsey Grammar, the tension was supposedly so thick that World War Three was expected to break out at any time.

Why would that be? Kelsey is a right-winger too.

 

[FreddyE1977]

One of my closest friends is a conservative, and she's personally a very giving and charitable person. But she's also a Sarah Palin loving, Michael Savage listening right-winger. We try to avoid talking politics.

I am quite conservative myself, but have had a number of very liberal friends. It has not been a problem because
I respect their right to have an opinion and their right to free speech. Plus they know nobody is changing anyone's
minds here.

 

[firepoint525]

There may not be an actual Hollywood "black list" as such, but I must wonder just how forgiving Hollywood was of Michael Richards after his racist rant of a few years back. I realize that Richards' rant was race-based, and not based on any political opinions; I say this having no knowledge whatsoever of his political leanings. I just know that I haven't seen him in anything lately. He laid low for a while after his rant (which was understandable), but has he been in anything noteworthy lately? I know that Hollywood is very sensitive to issues of this nature, and they may actually be afraid to use him in anything. Unfortunately, for Richards, his heckler was probably right: Seinfeld pretty much was all he had ever done.

 

[firepoint525]

Reportedly, on the set of the short-lived sitcom Back To You that she did with Kelsey Grammar, the tension was supposedly so thick that World War Three was expected to break out at any time.

Why would that be? Kelsey is a right-winger too.

Maybe they supported different candidates in the primaries! ;D That is certainly the case between me and my parents, and me and my wife.

 

[LKellerIII]

There may not be an actual Hollywood "black list" as such, but I must wonder just how forgiving Hollywood was of Michael Richards after his racist rant of a few years back. I realize that Richards' rant was race-based, and not based on any political opinions; I say this having no knowledge whatsoever of his political leanings. I just know that I haven't seen him in anything lately. He laid low for a while after his rant (which was understandable), but has he been in anything noteworthy lately? I know that Hollywood is very sensitive to issues of this nature, and they may actually be afraid to use him in anything. Unfortunately, for Richards, his heckler was probably right: Seinfeld pretty much was all he had ever done.

I heard Richards' stand-up act once, a few years before his "racist rant," and didn't find it particularly funny. His career may essentially be over, but he won't be going hungry. IIRC, the Seinfeld cast was very democratic - all 4 cast members got the same deal the last few years - something like $500,000 per episode and the same percentage of the residuals. It was record-breaking deal at the time, though subsequent stars (the Friends cast, Charlie Sheen, etc.) have done even better.

But the point is - unless Richards is a very bad money-manager, he should be set for life.

 

[Markxxx]

The thing to remember is in the "old days" managers used to be able to keep tight control on their clients. If an actor/actress was not good at something, they would not let them do that venue.

For instance, Lucie Arnaz says her mother was not a quick wit or spontaneously funny. She said, while she had a great gift for making other people's work come alive, and she especially knew when a joke would work or not, or if the joke was just in the wrong place, she was not good at ad libs. Indeed if you watch Lucille Ball interviews she often comes across really bad.

But in the old days, they managers (in her case Desi and Gary Morton), always tried to put Lucille in a good light and discouraged her from doing something that would show her off badly. This is why Lucille went on game shows a lot, as she used to play them at home with her family and friends.

Now celebrities get all hot under the collar, like we all do, and put something in writing and they're toast. The avenue wasn't available back when. To make matters worse, people think when you write something it has more meaning than if you say it. After all why would you go to the bother of writing it down if you didn't mean it? Whether or not this is so, that is how people perceive it to be.

If Heaton wants to support Rush, fine. But there may be a cost to that. Viewers may not tune her in and sponsors may abandon her work. And that's fair too. It's like if I told off my boss. I have that right, but there is a cost to my opinion. He may fire me for telling him off. In a sense the viewers are ultimately her boss. I cannot voice any opinion where I work, well I can but there is a result to that. Most of us are the same way

And if she wants to say something or support something, that is fine. Some things are worth losing your job for. Some or not.

Either way it's up to her.

 

[RicoGregg]

Reportedly, on the set of the short-lived sitcom Back To You that she did with Kelsey Grammar, the tension was supposedly so thick that World War Three was expected to break out at any time.

Why would that be? Kelsey is a right-winger too.

Guess you didn't read my next post, aka Reply #7, which may be at least a partial explanation why.

 

[FreddyE1977]

so.....Kelsey had a problem with Heaton being too open about her politics (even though I have never seen them come through in any of her sitcom work), while Grammer was playing General Patton in An American Carol ? ???

 

[RicoGregg]

so.....Kelsey had a problem with Heaton being too open about her politics (even though I have never seen them come through in any of her sitcom work), while Grammer was playing General Patton in An American Carol ? ???

Are you by chance familiar with a concept called "written scripts" as opposed to the spontaneity of real life?

I hope you can handle the truth when someone tells you the truth about pro wrestling.

 

[landtuna]

There may not be an actual Hollywood "black list" as such, but I must wonder just how forgiving Hollywood was of Michael Richards after his racist rant of a few years back. I realize that Richards' rant was race-based, and not based on any political opinions; I say this having no knowledge whatsoever of his political leanings. I just know that I haven't seen him in anything lately. He laid low for a while after his rant (which was understandable), but has he been in anything noteworthy lately? I know that Hollywood is very sensitive to issues of this nature, and they may actually be afraid to use him in anything. Unfortunately, for Richards, his heckler was probably right: Seinfeld pretty much was all he had ever done.

What about Mel Gibson? He attacked Jews in Hollywood of all things! Granted, he was a much larger star than Richards but his lamp seems to have dimmed as well. The only mention of him I recall lately was a series of disparaging remarks on TMZ.

 

[justpassingthough]

I'm also a lifelong liberal Democrat, but I don't let my personal politics get in the way of being entertained. I have many friends, a majority, that are staunch Republicans, and we just steer clear of politics. I only resent an entertainer when they try to inflict their politics in public, and make a case for saying and/or doing something asanine like tweets about Sandra Fluke that weren't so much insulting as unfunny.

I don't like when liberal actors do it either. If I want to hear a liberal opinion, I'll tune into MSNBC or Bill Maher...so as an actor, just keep me entertained.

The great part about America is we can all disagree, and if I don't like what you're saying, I can turn you off or tune you out. The power of freedom.