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This Celebrity Twitter Meltdown Might Leave a Mark

Today’s stars teach crash courses on alienating large swaths of their potential audience.

Christian Bale trashed Moses in the run up to “Exodus: Gods and Kings.” The 2014 project could have used a boost from the Christian community given its Biblical themes. Calling Moses “schizophrenic” and “barbaric” hardly endeared that community to the film.

“Exodus” ended up tanking at the box office.

Michael Shannon drummed up interest in his 2016 film “Nocturnal Animals” by telling Trump voters it was time for the urn. The film earned $10 million, a decent sum for an indie film but hardly huge given the film’s Oscar-soaked promotion.

RELATED: 9 Sarah Silverman Tweets She Hopes You Forget

Comic Iliza Shlesinger, by comparison, was on her very best behavior during press interviews to promote her new show, “Truth & Iliza.” The weekly Freeform series lets the “Last Comic Standing” alum weigh in on the news of the day.

Then the genuinely funny standup melted down on Twitter. Bigly.

It’s a classic case of celebrities alienating potential viewers with coarse rhetoric.Click To Tweet

The show just debuted May 2, but Shlesinger didn’t waste time angering folks on Twitter. Not only did she “feed the trolls,” she used the kind of divisive language sure to chase some potential viewers away.

Far, far away.

How?

She called President Trump and his cabinet racist, declared the push to repeal ObamaCare racist and said some, not all, of Trump voters are … racist.

And that was just in the matter of a few social media hours.

Here’s a small sample:

 

She struck a far more genteel tone during press interviews for the show. Like other hard-left comics, she vowed her TV show would embrace a variety of views on hot-button issues.

Will her new show reflect that?

Episode one suggests that’s hardly the case. She leaned on the standard far-left tropes you hear on every other late night show. Fake News. Fake President. And a little Obama worship thrown in.

“There are too many people spreading hate while Tweeting from their toilets,” she cracked. Isn’t declaring folks racist a mite hateful?

Later, she said “America … we’re a melting pot. Get. Over. It,” to cap her attack on the Trump administration’s illegal immigration decrees. Of course, like too many modern liberals, Shlesinger glibly conflates LEGAL immigration with ILLEGAL immigration.

Can “Truth & Iliza” stake a claim to some part of the late night TV landscape? We’ll see. To do so, she may have to win over a decidedly smaller group with her material. It’s a classic case of celebrities alienating potential viewers with coarse rhetoric.

Now, more than ever, stars should think twice about declaring war on Red State America.

“Truth & Iliza” airs at 10 p.m. EST Tuesday nights on Freeform.

Photo credit: Disney | ABC Television Group via Foter.com / CC BY-ND

3 Comments

  1. Another court jester who found nothing worth satirizing during King Obama’s reign, the guy who promised to quell the rising of the oceans. But the Dem bootlicker joins the pack of hyenas barking at President Trump. Aren’t Samantha Bee, Chelsea Handler and Any Schumer sufficient in the category of dumb blonde comedians who think they’re political gurus?

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