“Right now in America, they say if you talk about Charlie Kirk, you’ll get canceled,” Chappelle said on Saturday, per the New York Times. “I don’t know if that’s true, but I’m going to find out.”

“It’s easier to talk here than it is in America,” Chappelle carried on, adding that he’s worried about returning to the U.S. because he’s afraid “they’re going to do something to me so that I can’t say what I want to say.”

Saudi Arabia and its Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have faced criticism from groups like Human Rights Watch for the country’s human rights record. According to the HRW, “Saudi Arabian authorities harshly repress any dissent, including by handing down long sentences or the death penalty after unfair trials on charges related to peaceful online expression.” The organization also condemned the Riyadh comedy festival.

Chappelle is one of the many comedians who signed up to perform at the festival, a controversial decision that has been called out by several comedians, including David Cross.

On Monday, Cross said participating comedians, which include Chappelle, Michelle Wolf, Bill Burr, Pete Davidson and Louis C.K., can never be taken seriously again, “unless it’s complaining that we don’t support enough torture and mass executions of journalists and LGBQT peace activists here in the states, or that we don’t terrorize enough Americans by flying planes into our buildings.”

Burr defended his decision to perform at the Riyadh Comedy Festival this week after receiving backlash online and from fellow comedians.

On his “Monday Morning Podcast,” Burr went into detail on why he wanted to perform at the festival. He said that the inaugural Saudi Arabia festival could be the first step that could “lead to a lot of positive things.”

“It was great to experience that part of the world and to be a part of the first comedy festival over there in Saudi Arabia,” Burr said. “The royals loved the show. Everyone was happy. The people that were doing the festival were thrilled. The comedians that I’ve been talking to are saying, ‘Dude, you can feel [the audience] wanted it. They want to see real stand-up comedy.’ It was a mind-blowing experience. Definitely top three experiences I’ve had. I think it’s going to lead to a lot of positive things.”

In their condemnation of the festival, the Human Rights Watch urged performers to “publicly urge Saudi authorities to free unjustly detained Saudi dissidents, journalists and human rights activists.”

The post Dave Chappelle Roasts American Attacks on Free Speech at Saudi Arabia Comedy Fest: ‘It’s Easier to Talk Here’ appeared first on TheWrap.

“Not good enough,” the actress and longtime activist told CNN’s Dana Bash when asked about how the left-wing political party was doing during an appearance on “Inside Politics” on Wednesday.

“I don’t feel that our leaders are doing what they need to do,” Fonda added. “If you can’t change the people, change the people.”

The “Grace and Frankie” star appeared on the show in part to promote the relaunch of her late father Henry Fonda’s Committee for the First Amendment, which also comes in the wake of Jimmy Kimmel’s recent ABC suspension.

On Wednesday, Fonda enlisted more than 550 of her superstar peers in Hollywood to help relaunch Committee for the First Amendment, which was originally created during a “dark time when the federal government repressed and persecuted American citizens for their political beliefs.”

Aaron Sorkin, Alyssa Milano, Anjelica Huston, Barbra Streisand, Ben Stiller, Billy Crystal, Christine Baranski, Ethan Hawke, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Julianne Moore, Lily Tomlin, Mandy Patinkin, Melanie Griffith, Natalie Portman, Nicolas Cage, Olivia Wilde, Sam Waterston, Susan Sarandon, Viola Davis, Whoopi Goldberg and Winona Ryder, among many more A-Listers, are standing together in defense of Americans’ constitutional rights.

Fonda explained that she has revitalized the effort out of concern that Americans’ rights are under attack by Trump.

“He is amassing power in a way that will destroy our democracy. And so we‘re going to stand up. We‘re creatives. We‘re storytellers. We can do it creatively. We can have a good time while we do it,” Fonda said to Bash. “We we want to push back and we want to make a model of what creative non-violent, non-cooperation looks like. That doesn’t mean just showing up for people who are under attack like Jimmy Kimmel.”

She continued: “We want to be proactive and we want show what that can look like and violence will not be tolerated. We don’t want any of that, but we want we want move forward with love with unity, with solidarity.”

You can watch Fonda’s CNN appearance in the video above.

The post Jane Fonda Says Democratic Leaders Are ‘ Not Good Enough’ in Fight Against Trump | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

In the photo, Kimmel, Meyers and Colbert are seen pictured together onstage. While Colbert was already scheduled to guest star on Kimmel’s show this week, Meyers popped in with a surprise appearance.

“Hi Donald!” the photo, which was uploaded on Tuesday, was captioned. Kimmel’s can be seen applauding the trio from behind.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel)

Their photo gag, and jab, at Trump comes in the midst of Trump’s political shots at talk show hosts, specifically and most recently his targeting of late nighters Colbert and Kimmel. ABC suspended Kimmel for six days after he implied Charlie Kirk’s assassin was a member of “the MAGA gang.”

As for Colbert, CBS fired from his “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” after the host criticized his network’s parent company Paramount for its $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump over a 2024 “60 Minutes” interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris; the network later said the show was being sunset over high operational costs.

The post Kimmel, Colbert and Meyers Taunt Trump With Group Photo at Brooklyn Taping appeared first on TheWrap.

Vance appeared on Thursday’s night episode of Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” and was asked about the late-night host. Laura Ingraham mentioned that the Kimmel had not apologized to Erika Kirk directly and asked if at this point, the sentiment would even matter.

“I think it would matter. I would love for Jimmy Kimmel to apologize to Erika and all the people he slandered,” Vance said. “He is trying to say he told a joke. He didn’t tell a joke. He was accusing right wing America, conservative America of killing Charlie Kirk.”

He continued: “We now know that is false. Charlie Kirk was murdered by a left-wing assassin who was radicalized by some of the rhetoric that we see coming from the far left. When you accuse the people who have been holding prayer vigils, who have been praying about Charlie Kirk, you accuse them of killing Charlie Kirk, when we know it was a left-wing assassin, you are not apologizing for his murder. You are encouraging more of that violence to happen. If we’re going to stop this crazy strain of left-wing violence, we have to be honest about what it is.”

Ingraham also asked Vance his thoughts about the cultural touchstone the Kimmel suspension has become regarding free speech and particularly media censorship. The Fox News host cited celebrity and Democratic outcry against FCC chairman Brendan Carr’s involvement in the matter.

“I would like them to tell me exactly what Brendan Carr did to have Jimmy Kimmel taken off the air,” he said. “Because, number one, is he currently on the air. To the extent that he isn’t in certain stations, it’s because he is not funny and because his ratings are not very good. It is actually — we should let these stations determine whether they want a non-funny comedian.”

To that, Ingraham asked, “Why should the government chime in at all?”

“I think that Brendan Carr put out a couple of tweets or truths, whatever he did,” Vance said. “That does not constitute government collusion. It’s pretty rich coming from the Democrats after years of the Biden administration explicitly demanding the social media company censor. You didn’t hear anything from the Democrats about free speech. Brendan Carr putting out a couple of tweets about speech shuts down Jimmy Kimmel’s free speech rights? That’s preposterous.”

Despite his insistence that Carr did not engage in censorship regarding Kimmel, Vance also took a moment to mention that networks rely on public airways. He added that he was not opposed to having the government look into what they’re allowed to broadcast but said it was not related to the ABC host.

“These broadcast companies, ABC, NBC, CBS, they enjoy the public airwaves because they serve the public interest,” Vance added. “So I actually think that we should be having a conversation about whether these companies are serving the public interest. That’s actually totally separate from the Jimmy Kimmel issue because nothing happened to him.”

You can watch Vance’s full “The Ingraham Angle” interview in the video above.

The post JD Vance Calls On Jimmy Kimmel to Apologize to Charlie Kirk’s Widow Erika | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

The “Toy Story” alum and “Shifting Gears” star took to social media to proclaim that Erika Kirk’s strength to forgive her husband’s killer at Sunday’s memorial service for the media personality gave him the strength to finally forgive his father Gerald M. Dick’s killer.

“When Erika Kirk spoke the words on the man who killed her husband: ‘That man… that young man… I forgive him,'” Allen wrote. “That moment deeply affected me. I have struggled for over 60 years to forgive the man who killed my Dad. I will say those words now as I type: ‘I forgive the man who killed my father.’ Peace be with you all.”

Allen’s father was killed in 1964 when he was struck by a drunk driver. The actor was only 11 years old at the time and the death, unsurprisingly, had a long-lasting impact on him.

The actor posted a few times in the wake of Kirk’s assassination. On Sept. 11 he remembered the attack 24 years ago and extended a prayer for the conservative and his family.

“On this sad and day remembering 9-11,” he wrote. “I add a somber prayer for Charlie Kirks family. This is a very dark moment.”

Erika Kirk’s message of forgiveness came Sunday during a memorial service for her late husband in Arizona. It was an unexpected moment where she revealed she had forgiven Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old accused of shooting and killing the conservative activist on Sept. 10.

“That man, that young man,” she said. “I forgive him. I forgive him because it was what Christ did and is what Charlie would do.”

She added: “The answer to hate is not hate. The answer we know from the gospel is love and always love. Love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us.”

President Donald Trump was one of the many high profile Republicans in attendance for the memorial service. His remarks following Kirk’s were not one of peace and forgiveness.

“That’s where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponent. And I don’t want the best for them,” Trump commented toward the end of his speech. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry Erika.”

The post Tim Allen Says Erika Kirk’s Grace for Charlie’s Assassin Inspired Him to Forgive His Father’s Killer appeared first on TheWrap.

On Thursday’s episode of “The Megyn Kelly Show,” the podcast host tore into Kimmel’s return to “Jimmy Kimmel Live” earlier in the week after being taken off the air for six day over jokes he made about Charlie Kirk’s killer. Kelly did not believe that the late-night host’s emotions were from a sincere place.

“He did go back to the airwaves on Tuesday night, and was a self-pitying baby,” she began. “That was my take on it. Boo f–king hoo! He almost cried for himself. He wasn’t sorry about what he said about MAGA breeding the Charlie Kirk shooter, which was a lie. And the reason I know is because he didn’t correct the record, nor did he apologize. It was unbelievable. He got there and cried and whined for himself.”

Kelly continued: “He is crying for himself. And on top of it, the reason he’s speaking about Erika Kirk’s willingness to forgive is because he wants everyone to forgive him without actually apologizing or owning up to what he did. That’s why he’s so deeply touched by it. He’s basically saying, ‘Forgive me, let me off the hook. I deserve forgiveness,’ though he doesn’t even acknowledge what he actually did, and in the context of this whole thing, actually doubles down by ripping on MAGA and conservatives.”

In his monologue following the return to airwaves, Kimmel said that he understood why his remarks felt “ill-timed or unclear.”

“It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,” Kimmel said. “I don’t think there’s anything funny about it … nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what was obviously a deeply disturbed individual.”

Kelly however, was unswayed. The radio host pointed to left-leaning celebrities like Jamie Lee Curtis for having genuine emotional reactions to someone with whom they disagreed politically. She assumed Kimmel was more emotional about almost losing his show.

“Jimmy Kimmel didn’t shed tears over Charlie Kirk,” Kelly said. “He cried for himself because he almost lost his precious show. That’s why he was able to work up that emotion into his voice, because, ‘Oh, my God, I’m not going to be on this stage under the klieg lights anymore!'”

Watch the full Megyn Kelly segment in the video above.

The post Megyn Kelly Mocks Kimmel for Emotional Late-Night Return, Says He Cried Because He ‘Almost Lost His Precious Show’ | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

Those nations jointly announced that they had made the official diplomatic decision to treat Palestine as a sovereign state, a signal that they view it as a legitimate state alongside Israel – not merely as a future possibility dependent on negotiations.

Several board members and officers from the SWC have Hollywood connections, including CEO Jim Berk, Jeffrey Katzenberg an Rabbi Marvin Hier.

The entire statement from SWC is below:

Two weeks ahead of the second anniversary of Hamas’ savage October 7 massacre and on the eve of the most solemn Jewish holidays, Britain, Canada, Australia, Portugal, and France are rewarding the terrorists who carried out the bloodiest attack on Jews since the Holocaust by recognizing Palestinian statehood.

With 48 hostages still in the tunnels of Gaza, these governments have handed Hamas the greatest possible diplomatic gift — proving that mass murder, the slaughter of children, rape, and abduction pay. 

Just yesterday, Hamas broadcast its cruelty to the world yet again, releasing a poster of the hostages designed to inflict maximum psychological torment on the families of the captives. This is not the behavior of a society ready for statehood. It is the sadism of a death cult flaunting its inhumanity.

“If these governments truly cared about humanitarian crises, they would demand the immediate release of every last hostage before Hamas kills them all. Instead, they have abandoned the innocent men, women and children in Hamas’ brutal hands,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Director of Global Social Action at the Simon Wiesenthal Center. 

Diplomatic recognition under these circumstances is not diplomacy; it is appeasement. It does not bring peace one step closer; it normalizes terror and makes democracies everywhere more vulnerable.

The post Simon Wiesenthal Center Decries Recognition of Palestinian State by the UK, Canada and Others: ‘Rewarding the Terrorists’ appeared first on TheWrap.

“Hannah Einbinder is the perfect example of today’s elite mindset: liberals with luxury beliefs,” one X user wrote on Monday. “She preaches compassion from a stage, blind to what Israel has endured since October 7.” The person ended their thoughts by calling the “Hacks” actress uninformed.

“While she plays activist, Hamas leaders say openly they will repeat October 7 again and again until Israel is destroyed,” they wrote. “That’s not virtue. That’s ignorance and stupidity. Stick to acting, nobody asked for your opinion.”

The pushback against the actress and comedian, who is Jewish, started up after Einbinder accepted her Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. As she closed out her speech, she shared the message “f–k ICE and Free Palestine” before walking off the stage.

Einbinder, who has previously shared similar sentiments about the war in Gaza publicly, opened up about her remarks during the ceremony afterward.

“I feel like it is my obligation as a Jewish person to distinguish Jews from the State of Israel, because our religion and our culture is such an important and longstanding … institution that is really separate to this sort of ethno-nationalist state,” Einbinder told press after accepting her award.

Einbinder added that she felt it was “important to talk about Palestine, because it’s an issue that’s very dear to my heart.”

“I have friends in Gaza who are working as frontline workers, as doctors right now in the north of Gaza to provide care for pregnant women and for school children, to create schools in the refugee camps,” she said.

While some praised the actress for speaking out about the issue, others felt her statements were problematic.

Check out the reactions to the moment below.

Everything about Hannah Einbinder is nauseatingly predictable.

– She's a nepo-baby, so her career required little to no effort.
– She is bisexual.
– She claims Gaza is being starved.
– She supported the scam that was BLM and its violent rioting.

Now, just because she says she… pic.twitter.com/l6mfNQzqFl

— 𝔸ηᵗ (@AntSpeaks) September 15, 2025

The post Hannah Einbinder’s ‘Free Palestine’ Emmys Speech Slammed Online: ‘Ignorance and Stupidity’ appeared first on TheWrap.

“I was wrong, and I apologize,” King wrote in an X post on Friday. “I have deleted the post.”

King walked back his words after posting a tweet that said Kirk “advocated stoning gays to death. Just sayin’.” The since-deleted post appears to have been a tweet King made in response to Fox News’ Jesse Watters, who wrote: “Charlie Kirk was not a ‘controversial’ or ‘polarizing’ man. Charlie was a PATRIOT.”

I apologize for saying Charlie Kirk advocated stoning gays. What he actually demonstrated was how some people cherry-pick Biblical passages.

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) September 12, 2025

King issued his apology after an X user called the novelist out in a tweet saying, “I’d say Stephen King should be ashamed of himself, but what’s the point?” The post included what appears to a 2019 tweet from Kirk stating that he believes “marriage is one man one woman. Also gay people should be welcome in the conservative movement.”

Kirk was fatally shot on Wednesday during a public appearance at Utah Valley University. Since his death, fans and critics have weighed in on the legacy he left behind. While King’s claim about Kirk is unsubstantiated, people have resurfaced clips of the insensitive and what some have deemed racist and sexist remarks, including him questioning the professional legitimacy of a Black pilot as well stating that his child daughter would deliver a baby even if the pregnancy occurred due to rape.

never forget when charlie kirk said that if his 10yo daughter gets pregnant through rape, the baby should be delivered

the world is a better place without him https://t.co/uOea2jmiCz pic.twitter.com/YV1Mmow1BC

— Qazal (@_iqazal_) September 10, 2025

During his Pentagon 9/11 speech on Thursday, President Trump paid tribute to Kirk and announced that he would be posthumously honoring Kirk with a Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The post Stephen King Apologizes for Saying Charlie Kirk Advocated Stoning Gays to Death: ‘I Was Wrong’ appeared first on TheWrap.

Today, Aug. 26, Women’s Equality Day, marks the anniversary of the 19th Amendment’s certification.

The reality is that those of us on the front lines of feminist activism are facing not only the cultural pushback of an increasingly powerful “manosphere,” but a massive deficit in capital to break into the public consciousness, and a concerted corporate effort to silence the voices of those of us who continue to push for sex equality.

While money isn’t the only factor at play, it explains a great deal in terms of why most people have no idea about the Equal Rights Amendment, and that we are at the cusp of a potentially historic breakthrough for women and LGBTQ people – if only the public were aware of where we are and what is at stake.

On Jan. 27, 2020, the ERA became federal law, enshrining sex equality into the U.S. Constitution and guaranteeing women and LGBTQ people the equal protection of our laws. But no one seems to know this. And that ignorance is precisely what allows the type of discriminatory behavior detailed in Ms. Waxman’s article to continue to flourish, unabated and without consequence, not only in the entertainment industry but across all sectors of American society.

Women’s rights face an existential threat

We all know that the women’s movement is facing an existential threat as evidenced by the increasing rollbacks on rights we thought were secured decades ago. We are well aware of the pay disparity in Hollywood, but this inequity occurs across the board throughout the American labor market. The U.S. Government alone saves an estimated $1.7 trillion annually by underpaying women – extrapolate the number when you fold in U.S. corporations, and it is mind-boggling.

Then there is the matter of the huge amount of revenue involved in the sexual exploitation of women in porn and trafficking, which would also be adversely affected by women’s equal protection of our laws. It is really no surprise that it has been extremely difficult for the ERA to get the public visibility and traction it needs to avoid being illegally dismissed and ignored.

As an actress and filmmaker, I fell into ERA activism when showing my first feature film, “A Single Woman,” at the Smithsonian Institute in 2008. A docent dressed as a suffragist walked up to me and said, “I am the ghost of Alice Paul, back to haunt you because you have done nothing to complete the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, and women in this country still do not have equal rights.”

I was completely stunned. Like over 90% of the American population, I was unaware of this shocking fact.

In 1923, American suffragist Alice Paul wrote the Equal Rights Amendment. The ERA protects all Americans and guarantees equal treatment of our laws, regardless of sex or gender, simply stating: “Equality of rights, under the law, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”

The battles women fight everyday — for equal access to education, pay, and health care — would become obsolete if their rights were protected by the Constitution. The ERA is critical to addressing — and ending — the many inequities that affect women, from pay disparities to gender-based violence.

For over 50 years, the ERA struggled to see the light of day. Then in 1972, after years of hard-fought work by millions of American women and their allies, the ERA passed in both houses of Congress and was supported by President Richard Nixon, who signed it and sent the amendment to the states. Thirty-five states went on to pass the ERA by 1977, three states short of the 38-state requirement for full ratification by three-fourths of the states.

In 2009, I formed the organization EQUAL MEANS EQUAL (originally called the ERA Education Project) and have since educated, activated, organized and mobilized women and our allies across the nation, citing the urgent need to complete the process by ratifying the last three states needed. EQUAL MEANS EQUAL has been widely credited for revitalizing the movement to complete ERA ratification after 40 years of inaction.

The main tool I used was my documentary film “Equal Means Equal.” The film was released in 2016, streaming on Amazon and distributed widely across the nation in screenings, public events and house parties. Hundreds of copies were given to legislators in the unratified states.

Nevada ratified on March 22, 2017, becoming the 36th state; Illinois then ratified on May 30, 2018; and Virginia became the final state needed in 2020.

Ratification by these states meant the ERA had now completed all Constitutional requirements for publication as the 28th Amendment as per Article V of the U.S. Constitution. It was therefore the obligation of the U.S. Government to officially adopt and enforce the ERA.

Unfortunately, this did not happen.

In an unprecedented action that interfered with the clear letter of the law, the Trump administration directed the U.S. Archivist not to publish ERA. Even more disturbing, the Biden administration continued this illegal assault on our civil rights, also refusing to publish ERA and arguing against its adoption in two court cases, the first one filed by EQUAL MEANS EQUAL in 2020.

On Jan. 17, 2025, after massive protest efforts organized by EQUAL MEANS EQUAL and our allies in Washington, President Biden reversed course and stated, “I have supported the Equal Rights Amendment for more than 50 years, and I have long been clear that no one should be discriminated against based on their sex. We, as a nation, must affirm and protect women’s full equality once and for all.” Biden went on to say that he agreed with legal scholars that the 28th amendment “has become part of our Constitution … guaranteeing all Americans equal rights and protections under the law regardless of their sex.”

Nonetheless, Biden did not ensure that the U.S. Archivist publish the amendment before he left office, effectively invalidating his statement and continuing to prove the bad faith that all major politicians and political parties have shown to women and this issue. To date, the ERA remains in limbo, unpublished and unenforced.

Having been immersed in researching the ramifications for women and the LGBTQ community, I can honestly say that there is no single more important issue with more widespread consequences for the vast majority of Americans than this one. Its adoption would completely change the lives of 170 million American women and their families for the better.

That belief makes the virtual media blackout on the issue all the more concerning.

The ERA’s uncertain future

The major pink ribbon orgs are all funded by political parties (overwhelming the Democratic Party), and let me reiterate that it is in no party’s best interest to see women gain full equality under law. Remember that both parties are funded by our corporations – and they stand to lose trillions if women win equality, to say nothing of the men overwhelmingly in power who want to continue to treat women however they like with impunity.

Over the next few months, EQUAL MEANS EQUAL will be going to court in two distinct federal cases to protect and enforce the ERA, one in Massachusetts and another in D.C.

What we need right now from Hollywood women, and all women and our allies, is for them to educate themselves on the ERA and take action to help us win this fight – a fight that we have actually already won – before it’s too late.

To answer Ms. Waxman’s question, the movement is only silent because it is being silenced, co-opted, paid off. We cannot allow the government to steal our victory after more than a century of struggle.

Kamala Lopez is the executive director of EQUAL MEANS EQUAL, the president of Heroica Films, and an actor and director.

The post How Can Feminists Find Their Voices? Start With the ERA | Guest Column appeared first on TheWrap.