Is the Left Learning the Error of Its Woke Ways?

Living in a bubble has its drawbacks.

Take Hollywood, an industry where the quest for diversity is literally skin deep. Sure, La La Land denizens come from all walks of life, but they generally read from the progressive playbook.

Black actors. Asian screenwriters. Female directors. Hispanic screenwriters. They voted for Kamala Harris last fall, or at least told everyone they did on Instagram.

The reporters who cover the industry fall under a similar umbrella.

That means reality often lurks just beyond reach. Case in point: The American public had little interest in the woke agenda, then or especially now.

Some key voices in the artistic community are starting to figure that out. Finally.

Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel admitted “repulsive” liberal voices are scaring people away from the Democratic Party during an appearance on the “Sarah Silverman Podcast” on Thursday. pic.twitter.com/r4kIvCYCAU

— All Time Entertainment (@AllTimeEnt) August 9, 2025

Consider a recent exchange between Jimmy Kimmel and Sarah Silverman. The progressive comics once dated, but now they’re pals who retain the same ideological leanings.

Trump bad. Woke good. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Yet Kimmel admitted something during their recent podcast conversation that carried the whiff of truth. That it came from the cryin’ late-night host proved all the more shocking.

Even Silverman touched on it.

Silverman dubbed some progressives as “incredibly elitist,” causing Kimmel to defend their fellow travelers, but only to a point.

“Yes. But it’s not – it’s not the party. It’s not the majority. It’s the loud voices that scare people from saying what they believe and make you think twice about a joke or whatever … You know, a lot of their points are valid, but a lot of them are also just repulsive, in that they repel people … they go like, ‘Oh, you’re no fun. I don’t want to be around you.’ And I think that if you had to boil it down to one thing, that’s kind of what it is.”

Now, if they only had platforms to share this critical news earlier, it could have made a difference.

Oh, wait.

The “Jimmy Kimmel Live” host spent years ignoring progressive overreach in his ABC monologues. It’s Trump, Trump, Trump, and he couldn’t spare a word against the woke cult he can now call out.

The two aren’t alone. 

Sharon Waxman, who founded the far-Left entertainment news site TheWrap.com, has done little to expose the woke mind virus infecting Hollywood. Her site even gathered comedians during the height of the post-George Floyd panic to cheer on Cancel Culture.

Now, she’s using The New York Times to warn her fellow Leftists that woke has run its course. To quote philosopher John McClane, “Welcome to the party, pal!”

Hollywood is rapidly shifting away from the socially conscious framework that for more than a decade has driven its narratives, casting and green lights.

Along the way, Waxman accidentally shares a story she downplayed at her publication. Talented straight white males were unfairly punished during the woke era.

Seems newsy, no?

I also can’t count the number of times I’ve heard quiet frustration from a reasonably accomplished white male screenwriter who felt cast out by the top talent agencies. In the process of “recentering” Hollywood, some people suddenly felt shunted to the side…

In the end, Hollywood is in the business of giving its audience what it wants, not what it thinks it should want.

You’d think a veteran film scribe might have sensed that from the jump. Still, Waxman’s late realization pales in comparison to a recent Slate think piece.

“The Cult of ‘Kill Tony'” looks at Tony Hinchcliffe’s signature podcast, a no-holds-barred arena where wannabe stand-ups dare to make people laugh. Fail, and they’re exposed to a crush of insults, both personal and professional.

It’s not pretty, nor is it supposed to be.

The article begins in fine progressive fashion, smearing President Donald Trump and suggesting Hinchcliffe and friends are cruel, bigoted blokes who need to be condemned.

Except the writer went into the story with an open mind. The piece takes a shocking turn that could be a primer for today’s Left.

That’s assuming progressives don’t want a repeat of the 2024 election four years from now.

Long story short. They’re just jokes, folks. And the ol’ “sticks and stones” line.

The article focuses on Jo Ellis, a trans comic who dared to enter the “Kill Tony” crucible. Ellis isn’t afraid, knowing what it means to thrive in such a gladiator-style setting.

If Ellis can take the worst “Kill Tony” can offer, why can’t everyone else? The writer realizes, paragraph by paragraph, that the Left was wrong to censor comedy.

The show’s profane transgressions are married with joyful foolishness, which is why so many of its fans aren’t hardcore ideologues. Their allegiance is grounded in something much more basic: In a world spinning out of control, they’ve grown tired of second-guessing their pleasures. That’s gone missing from the more recent examples of left-leaning stand-up, all encumbered by a decade’s worth of churning discourse. Maybe the best jokes shouldn’t be burdened with the responsibility of being right—so long as they’re targeting something that they know, in their hearts, is wrong.

Ellis, we’re told, is moving to Austin to appear on the show more regularly. Here comes the article’s haymaker.

“I’m all in.” Ellis isn’t afraid to play here. Maybe the rest of us shouldn’t be, either.

Better late than never? Perhaps.

Too bad so many people suffered during the woke era. Comedians self-censored or risk cancellation. Some saw their career dramatically impacted by telling the “wrong” jokes. Others saw their social media musings stifled by Big Tech censors.

Heck, Dave Chappelle got attacked on stage at the Hollywood Bowl for telling the wrong jokes.

Put Culture War battles aside. America is better off if we throw woke into the dustbin of history. Let’s hope these examples of self-reflection soon become the norm.