It was the very least they could do, and they couldn’t even manage that.

Celebrities had the perfect chance to unite America and decry the attack on free speech that left conservative hero Charlie Kirk dead.

Kirk’s murder took place days before Sunday’s Emmys telecast. That gave Hollywood, Inc. the moment to do something good, kind and righteous. And they might even lure a few Heartland viewers back to the telecast.

They could have avoided politics entirely and focused on the death of a young father and husband who tried to  bring debate back to the culture. He was a First Amendment warrior, the principle that lets every star in the Hollywood galaxy shine.

The stars didn’t have to agree with Kirk’s worldview. Just his humanity. And they collectively failed.

Before tonight’s game we held a moment of silence in memoriam of Charlie Kirk.

Kirk founded the youth activist group “Turning Point USA” and had become a fixture on college campuses. Charlie Kirk, a husband and father of two children, was 31 years old. pic.twitter.com/Fz5xPlmdu0

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 10, 2025

The New York Yankees organization honored Kirk, as did most NFL teams yesterday. So did other groups and organizations, not necessarily on the right side of the aisle, either.

Even Coldplay, hardly a bastion of right-thinking views, shared warm thoughts for Kirk’s widow and young children.

Not Hollywood. It shouldn’t come as a shock.

As actor/activist Michael Rapaport reminded us last year, the stars haven’t even name-checked the hostages still being kept alive, barely, in Hamas’ custody during awards telecasts. Show after show, speech after speech, and those hostages remain off limits.

Yet multiple stars raged against Israel both during the telecast and at press-related events. Far-Left “Hacks” co-star Hannah Einbinder led the charge, cursing out ICE and shouting, “free Palestine” while accepting an award for Best Supporting Actress in a comedy series.

(It’s the same actress who doubled down on the “very fine people” hoax earlier this year.)

She expanded on her pro-Palestinian remarks off stage, ignoring how the Palestinians would treat an openly LGBTQ star like herself.

Inconvenient.

Not to be outdone, Oscar-winner Javier Bardem spoke out in favor of the Palestinian cause without mentioning Oct. 7 or the ongoing hostage crisis. Both stars, along with nearly 4,000 others, have boycotted Israeli-backed film groups moving forward for being a part of a “genocide.”

Even if one believes their specious argument, they could still decry the hostage crisis and raging antisemitism across the country.

They refused to do anything of the sort. Again.

Emmys host Nate Bargatze, the current clean comedy king, dutifully avoided politics in his monologue. It’s not his brand, for starters, and it’s a refreshing change from previous hosts.

He still could have honored Kirk’s legacy as a spiritual leader and free speech giant. Instead, he stayed silent.

There are a few stars who refuse to tow the morally warped line.

Jerry Seinfeld aggressively called out the “free Palestine” movement, slamming it as antisemitic at its core. Other artists, like Rapaport, Debra Messing, John Ondrasik and David Schwimmer, won’t let Hamas or today’s antisemites off the hook.

They are the extreme exceptions.

The pro-Palestinian movement is the cause du jour in Hollywood. The stars likely can’t fully defend their views, and they don’t have to, given that the press agrees with them. They know that backing the cause boosts their brand within the artistic community.

And, as the industry continues to shrink in the face of the digital revolution, that matters.

Standing up for Israel, free speech and innocent hostages is a bridge too far for the modern actor-activist. There’s no professional payoff, only possible punishment.

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