Will Jon Voight’s Right-Wing Views Hurt His Emmy Chances?
Jon Voight is currently up for the Best Supporting Actor Emmy for the Showtime offering, Ray Donovan. Usually, actors and networks vie for the coveted award using perfectly choreographed interviews and for your consideration videos and ads. Jon Voight’s chances of winning seem high; the 75-year-old Oscar-winning actor is red-hot, award-wise, coming off a Golden Globe win as Ray Donovan’s rough tempered father.
However, while most actors keep their collective heads down and attempt to keep any and all public statements confined to the topic of their work in awards season, Jon Voight has done anything but.
Two days after the Emmy nominees were announced, Voight went on Mike Huckabee’s Fox News show and unloaded a tirade on the former creationist presidential-nominee’s program. His targets included President Barack Obama, the Democratic Party, the handling of the Iraq War, the attack on Benghazi, the treatment of conservative filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza, illegal immigration and the Hobby Lobby Supreme Court Case according to Deadline.
Last week, Voight railed against President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry during a pro-Israel rally, just as Emmy voting was beginning, and finally, yesterday, Jon reportedly came out with an extremely reproachful statement regarding Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem’s statements from last week (as reported by the Inquisitr) on Israel, saying the couple is ignorant on the history of Israel, and they should “hang their head in shame,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
If this weren’t award season, no one would be surprised by Voight’s statements. Jon Voight has long held pro-Israel sentiments. He reportedly visited the country in 2008 as part of its 60th anniversary celebration. Jon also publicly slammed Jane Fonda when she attached her name to an Israel-related petition a year later.
Voight’s politics didn’t always lean so far right. Once upon a time, Jon Voight was a vocal supporter of John F. Kennedy, and it’s only in the last seven years, after the election of Barack Obama, that Voight has expressed his staunch support of the Republican party.
There’s no question that Republican’s are a minority in Hollywood, and some right-wing stars complain that the voting is biased come award season. Kelsey Grammer, who won a Golden Globe for his role in Starz’s Boss, failed to garner an Emmy for the role. Grammer straight out said it was because of his political views; because he was one of the “out of the closet Republicans.”
Awards experts downplay what – if any – effect Jon Voight’s political views will have on the Emmy voting, citing the narrowness of this year’s voting pool. Casting a ballot in Voight’s category will only be those from the Emmy acting branch who volunteered to vote, who don’t have a conflict, and who haven’t voted the last two years in a row.
Jon Voight’s chances of winning actually look pretty good, no matter which way his political leanings lie.
