On the eve of the U.S. presidential election, singer Cher and comic Kathy Griffin are using YouTube to get the vote out for Barack Obama – and they are not the only celebrities taking sides.
“There’s a lot at stake in this election, especially for women and people who like women and respect them,” said Cher in the video funded by the Jewish Council for Education and Research.
The same political action committee funded a video in which Samuel L. Jackson urges voters to “wake the f— up.”
In the latest video, Griffin uses popular Cher song titles in her appeal. “Romney and his buddies are trying to turn back time on women’s rights. They are basically acting like a bunch of gypsies, tramps, and thieves.”
Cher has been a vocal opponent of Mitt Romney on Twitter, where she recently posted this message: “If Romney gets elected I don’t know if I can breathe the same air as Him & his Right Wing Racist Homophobic Women Hating tea Bagger Masters.” She later apologized for being “mean spirited.”
In liberal Hollywood, Obama has a lot of support. Stars like Scarlett Johansson and Eva Longoria spoke at the Democratic Convention while others, like Sarah Jessica Parker and Anne Hathaway, have hosted fundraisers for the president’s campaign.
Morgan Freeman, who donated $1 million to a political action committee in support of Obama, narrated a campaign ad, in which he said: “Every president inherits challenges. Few have faced so many. Four years later, our enemies have been brought to justice, our heroes are coming home, assembly lines are humming again. There are still challenges to meet: children to educate, a middle class to rebuild. But the last thing we should do is turn back now.”
George Clooney has hosted a number of fundraisers for Obama while fellow actor Ed Norton produced a seven-minute documentary called We Hold These Truths that encourages voters to support Obama.
The president’s all-star supporters include Gwyneth Paltrow, Reese Witherspoon, Jane Lynch, Ellen DeGeneres, Cameron Diaz, Robert Downey Jr., Billy Crystal, Jack Black, Salma Hayek and Tobey Maguire.
Not all celebrity support is for the Democrats, of course. Adam Sandler, Vince Vaughn, and Kelsey Grammar are Republicans and stars like Chuck Norris, Kid Rock and Jon Voight have spoken publicly in favour of Romney.
Gene Simmons, who backed Obama in 2008, has shifted his support to Romney, stating that the U.S. needs to be run “by a businessman.”
Tabloid staple Lindsay Lohan also endorsed Romney… sort of. The actress told reporters: “I just think employment is really important right now so, as of now, Mitt Romney. As of now.”
Clint Eastwood’s speech at the Republican National Convention, in which he spoke to an empty chair as if it was Obama, was widely mocked. So too was a tweet from Clueless actress Stacey Dash who called Romney “the only choice for your future.” One Twitter follower fired back: “You’re an unemployed black woman endorsing @MittRomney. You’re voting against yourself thrice. You poor beautiful idiot.”
Some famous families are politically divided. Alec Baldwin is a Democrat while his brother Stephen Baldwin is a Republican. In 2008, the latter vowed to move to Canada if Obama was elected – but didn’t.
Even Canadian stars are getting in on the political action. Ontario-born Martin Short poked fun at Republicans during an appearance on The Tonight Show and said Canadians don’t like Romney “because he hasn’t shipped that many jobs to our country like he has to others.”
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