Star of the Hollywood entertainment world Kurt Russell is unfazed by the circumstance. The seasoned actor received criticism for his conservative statement, to which he responded by arguing that the Founding Fathers were good models of their viewpoint.
According to Kurt Russell, celebrities shouldn’t participate in political debates. He actually made that argument crystal apparent during an interview with The New York Times. The “hardcore libertarian” actor known for his part in Overboard recently acknowledged that his political views are very different from those of the bulk of Hollywood celebrities and entertainers.
Russell, though, responded bluntly to a reporter’s query regarding gun control, saying, “If you believe gun control is going to change the terrorists’ point of view, I think you’re, like, out of your mind.” This claim provoked numerous controversies and sparked a media firestorm. Russell later acknowledged that he had “begrudgingly made comments” about gun control during that interview because he had felt “ambushed.”
The Tango & Cash actor expounded on his prior remarks against gun control during an interview with The Daily Beast, and he also described the process that lead him to develop a libertarian mindset. When he was younger, he admitted, he struggled to understand what was happening and to adopt a political culture. I finally decided, “Why don’t I go back and examine what the Founding Fathers were all about, and see if that squared up. I didn’t know what to do. Well, I discovered both of them and libertarianism. I just believe in that old-time stuff and think they had fantastic ideas because they were really radical folks who were also damn brilliant idea.
In a previous interview, Russell explained how this has also shaped his opinions on the constitutionally protected right to own and bear arms. The fact that every government has ever had to battle its own people, he continued, is “I think there’s a very good justification the Founding Fathers had for the Second Amendment.” That, in my opinion, is crucial to our life.
When it comes to his libertarianism on a larger scale, Russell rarely speaks in public. He has made it a policy to turn down offers to participate on political talk shows in order to uphold his integrity and remain true to his belief that celebrities have no business preaching Americans. He feels it is inappropriate for celebrities to lecture Americans. When I appear on those programs, I don’t want viewers to think, “The last thing I want to do is watch Kurt Russell talk about sh*t that I don’t think he knows anything about.
Russell came to the conclusion that it was time to set the record straight regarding his fundamental beliefs. “I believe in limited Constitutional government, free market capitalism, reach for the brass ring,” he said. “There’s this place where you can go do that and don’t step on anybody’s toes and still try to reach for the brass ring.”
When it was pointed out that the actor from Escape from New York is in the “extreme minority” in Hollywood with regard to his political views, he responded with some harsh words as well. “I’ve heard some pretty rough things through the years that were really undeserved,” he said. “But the number one thing was my case was worse, because I couldn’t say, ‘I’m a Republican, sorry.’ I wasn’t a Republican, I was worse: I was a hardcore libertarian.”
“I was brought up as a Republican, but when I realized that at the end of the day there wasn’t much difference between a Democrat and Republican, I became a libertarian,” Russell said. The actor from Backdraft is also of the opinion that the political climate in Hollywood is filled with a great deal of fakery. “I’m not a Bill Maher libertarian,” Russell declared. “That’s faux-libertarianism. He doesn’t know what it is. I like him, and he’s a nice guy, but seriously, that’s not libertarianism. The other thing I’ve found is that a lot of liberals in Hollywood are faux-liberals, and a lot of Republicans in Hollywood are faux-conservatives.”
The actor best known for his role in Tombstone disclosed, in a separate interview, that his political beliefs caused him to be socially isolated among his Hollywood peers. “As the years have gone by, yes, I clearly at times was—at least in terms of ‘the hang’—politically persona non grata,” he said. “But I always had a good time talking about things with people. The thing people did get to know about me if they engaged me is that I’m fair, I’m pretty energetic, and I’m pretty knowledgeable. I don’t pop off without finding out about stuff—and I like finding out about stuff, and don’t have that much of an agenda about it.”
Since 1983, actor Kurt Russell has been in a relationship with actress Goldie Hawn, who has been his partner for a very long time. Russell was one of the few child actors who went on to become a major Hollywood talent as an adult. He got his start in the business when he was young and has kept up with the industry ever since.
