While President Joe Biden has always enjoyed Hollywood‘s full embrace, the 81-year-old has seen a fallout from celebrities’ good graces after his incoherent debate performance.
Under three weeks ago, Biden proudly stood beside the likes of George Clooney, Barbara Streisand, and Julia Roberts as the stars headlined a glitzy fundraiser for the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
The Los Angeles event, held at the Peacock Theater, generated $30 million for Biden and came before the president’s disastrous performance at the first debate. Even then, an incident caught the attention of critics who noted that former President Barack Obama was forced to gently lead his friend off the event stage after Biden awkwardly gaped at the audience.
While celebrities such as Roberts and Clooney might have overlooked the incident and an abundance of similar situations leading up to the fundraiser, the June 27 debate was the nail in the coffin for Biden’s relationship with many Hollywood stars.
From Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, who has made $20 million in donations to the Democratic Party, to Disney heiress Abigail Disney, Biden has lost the support of many Hollywood moguls in the nine days since the debate.
“Step aside to allow a vigorous Democratic leader to beat Trump and keep us safe and prosperous,” Hastings urged Biden, according to the New York Times.
Meanwhile, Disney, a major Democratic donor, told the outlet she was withdrawing donations to Democrats “until they bite the bullet and replace Biden at the top of the ticket.”
The Disney heiress and Netflix titan are far from the only Democratic celebrity donors withdrawing their support from Biden.
After the debate, Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof also pledged to withhold donations to the Democratic Party until it makes a change at the top of the ticket.
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“For me, this isn’t about the ability to govern, it’s about the ability to WIN,” he wrote in an email to the New York Times earlier this week. According to the outlet, the Hollywood icon has donated $125,000 this election cycle to the Biden campaign and nearly the same amount to Democratic Senate and House candidates.
Additionally, former DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, who organized the Peacock Theater fundraiser, has been uncharacteristically silent since the debate. He has declined to comment to media outlets on withdrawing his support.
