Last April at the Matrix Awards, part-time actor, full-time celebrity Lena Dunham said that she was absolutely serious about moving to Canada if Donald Trump won the presidency. “I know a lot of people have been threatening to do this, but I really will. I know a lovely place in Vancouver,” she told award ceremony host Andy Cohen.
Milo Yiannopoulos announced Wednesday that he had asked his travel agent to arrange a first-class ticket to Canada for Ms. Dunham. So with everything in place and the stars aligned, you would think Dunham would jump at the chance to make good on her pledge.
Fat chance.
Add Lena Dunham to the list of anti-Trump celebrities who won’t be moving to Canada after all.
Miss Dunham, star of the HBO comedy series “Girls,” took to Instagram to slam those calling for her to make good on her promise to leave the country if Republican Donald Trump won the presidency.
“And for those demanding I move to Canada based on something I said when this man seemed like a steak salesman with a long shot at the presidency: stay busy reveling in your new regime,” she said in a Friday post.
“I will go many places during my lifetime, surrounded by kindreds on a mission to spread justice and light. I can’t wait for all of this, and for the change to come, as we use what we’ve been given to protect those who can’t protect themselves,” she added. “What are you living for?”
So basically the reason she’s not leaving is that when she said she was, Trump didn’t have a chance to win — except he did win and now she’s welshing on her word.
Why should it matter if Trump had no chance to win when she made the pledge? You’re either going to go or not — electoral chances shouldn’t play any part in her decision.
In fact, the threat to leave the U.S. was the easiest way for these empty-headed celebrities to prove to the masses just how committed they were to the cause. But now that Trump has won, celebrities who promised to leave are criticizing those who are calling on them to make good on their promise:
Miley Cyrus, Chelsea Handler and Amy Schumer now have a different message after vowing to leave the country if Republican Donald Trump won the presidency: Never mind.
The comedian Handler, who said in May that she had bought a house “in another country just in case,” reversed course Thursday, explaining that she plans to stick around for the good of the nation.
“Yesterday my staff reminded me that voices and platforms like mine are needed more than ever; leaving the country is quitting #keepfightin,” said Ms. Handler on Twitter.
In an interview six months ago on “Live with Kelly and Michael,” however, Ms. Handler said, “So all these people that threaten to leave the country and then don’t—I really will leave that country.”
Meanwhile, the comedian Schumer dismissed Tuesday her pre-election comment on BBC about moving to Europe, saying it was made “in jest,” and blasted those calling for her to take a hike.
“Anyone saying pack your bags is just as disgusting as anyone who voted for this racist homophobic openly disrespectful woman abuser,” said Ms. Schumer in a post on Instagram.
Ms. Cyrus, who said on Instagram in March that “I am moving if he is president” and “I don’t say things I don’t mean,” posted messages on social media indicating that she would accept Mr. Trump as president.
“If we want Donald Trump to accept us … we must be accepting towards his presidency & his promise to ‘unify’ our country and ‘make America great,’” said the pop singer, a judge on NBC-TV’s “The Voice,” in an Instagram post Wednesday.
“Happy hippies, we adjust and we accept everyone who they are and so Donald Trump, I accept you and deserve to say that I even accept you as the president of the United States and that’s fine. That’s fine because I think now I want to be a hopeful hippie,” said Ms. Cyrus in a tearful video Tuesday on Twitter and Facebook.
Handler needed her staff to jog her memory about what’s important in life. Schumer wants to shoot the messenger for reminding her of her promise. And little Miley Cyrus really, really means it this time when she says we should accept Trump as president — even though she didn’t mean what she said she meant about leaving.
But these people don’t have to worry about being called out for their illogical, flagrantly stupid about-faces. They are comfortably cocooned in Hollywood, walled off from ordinary people who might question their explanations.
Still, it’s nice to dream that several of the more insufferable Hollywood types would take a hike to Canada or wherever. The nation would be better off if they did.
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