A number of other A-list celebrities, namely Jennifer Lopez, Justin Timberlake and Johnny Depp, reportedly also didn't make the cut because of their liberal views.
- Oct 30, 2020
AceShowbiz - It's suffice to say that Donald Trump and his administration don't like Billie Eilish. Despite being one of today's most popular superstars among teens and youngsters, the "Bad Boy" hitmaker has been cut from a shortlist of the president's pricey COVID-19 PSA.
According to the Washington Post, a document obtained from one contractor reveals that Trump's administration described the 26-year-old Grammy Award-winning artist as "not a Trump Supporter" and "destroying our country and everything we care about."
But Eilish isn't the only one shunned out from the shortlist as Jennifer Lopez, Justin Timberlake and Johnny Depp were reportedly also among those who didn't make the cut for the ad, which allegedly cost $250 million to make, for being too liberal.
In J.Lo's case, she was crossed out the list because she was critical of the president's immigration policies during her Super Bowl performance. Timberlake was noted as publicly endorsing Obama and supporting gay marriage, while Depp "appears to be aligned with the liberal left."
The document additionally claims that director Judd Apatow "believes Trump does not have the intellectual capacity to run as President," Christina Aguilera "is an Obama-supporting Democrat and a gay rights supporting liberal," Adam Levine is a "liberal Democrat who supported Obama and fights for gay rights," and Jack Black is "known to be a classic Hollywood liberal."
Atlas Research, which won a $15 million contract as part of the campaign, was encouraged to choose subcontractors such as DD&T, a company run by Den Tolmor, "a Russian-born business associate of [HHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Michael] Caputo's who was a co-founder of the apparently defunct Bond Film Platform." The Democrats' officials said in a letter reacting to this, "This raises serious questions about whether there has been a violation of federal contracting law related to conflicts of interest."
As Atlas took part in the celebrity vetting, an employee wrote in notes that "George Lopez PSA - Not moving forward due to previous concerns regarding his comments regarding the President."
Among at least 274 celebrities under consideration for the PSA, only 10 appear to have been approved. They included Dennis Quaid, gospel singer CeCe Winans, Marc Anthony, Shulem Lemmer, Dr. Oz, Billy Ray Cyrus, Miranda Lambert, Garth Brooks, Dwayne Wade and Enrique Iglesias.
The campaign is currently under review at HHS.
