Mixed Reviews for Jennifer Lawrence’s Vow to Pursue ‘Nonpartisan’ Role
Chrissy Clark /
Hollywood star Jennifer Lawrence says she will take a year off to help “fix our democracy,” but her claim that her political activism will be nonpartisan is being greeted with some skepticism.
Lawrence told TV’s “Entertainment Tonight” last week that she will take a sabbatical from acting to work with Represent.Us, a self-proclaimed bipartisan, grassroots organization dedicated to combating corruption in government.
“It doesn’t have anything to do with partisan [politics]. It’s just anti-corruption and stuff, trying to pass state-by-state laws that can help prevent corruption, fix our democracy,” said Lawrence, an Oscar winner who is the highest-paid actress in the world, according to the Internet Movie Database.
Some conservative commentators have questioned Lawrence’s commitment to nonpartisanship in light of her prior political activity.
No JLaw for a year, and a fixed democracy?
It's a win-win!https://t.co/ykTvNWnRTz
— PragerU (@prageru) February 20, 2018
“Of course not!” talk radio titan Rush Limbaugh scoffed on his nationally syndicated program. “It’s got nothing to do with partisan politics, and besides that, you conservatives suck!”
Limbaugh added:
The group [Represent.Us] describes itself as a nonpartisan, grassroots organization aimed at passing anti-corruption laws that ‘stop political bribery, end secret money, and fix our broken elections.’ … ‘Fix our broken elections.’ This, my friends, is actually cover for the real agenda, as every leftist organization is. It pretends to be something that it isn’t to appeal to people who hate ‘politics.’
Zachary Leeman, an editor for talk show host Laura Ingraham’s LifeZette.com website, wrote at the spinoff PopZette: “If you were worried about democracy in this country, you can now rest easy—Jennifer Lawrence is on the case.”
Lawrence, 27, made clear her opposition to Donald Trump during an interview on British TV on “The Graham Norton Show,” when she flipped Trump “the bird” and used the “F-bomb.” That was in May 2016, when Trump was still a Republican presidential candidate.
I wonder if Jennifer Lawrence's 'non-biased' plan to "fix our democracy" includes her telling Trump to F- himself like she bragged about in this clip… pic.twitter.com/tqsbKcwRKy
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) February 20, 2018
More recently, Lawrence took part in the Women’s March last month in New York City. She was seen holding a sign saying, “A woman’s place is in the revolution.”
She captioned her Women’s March photo: “I stand in solidarity for Women’s rights, Equal pay, DACA [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals], and CHIP [Children’s Health Insurance Program].”
Despite Lawrence’s claim to be taking a break from the silver screen, her representative told Entertainment Weekly magazine just three days later that the actress—best known for “The Hunger Games” film series—will indeed be back to work in the upcoming year.
According to the magazine, Lawrence has no fewer than seven movies on her docket. They include a still-untitled film with comedian Amy Schumer and director Ron Howard’s Zelda Fitzgerald biopic “Zelda.” Her newest film, “Red Sparrow,” opens March 2.
The actress’ representative made it clear that Lawrence will return to work once those upcoming projects are ready to roll, even if it’s in the next year.
Peter Parisi contributed to this report.