On Saturday, actress Debra Messing called on organizers of an upcoming Republican fundraiser to release a list of Hollywood figures who would be in attendance. The demand followed a tweet in which Messing’s Will & Grace co-star Eric McCormack said he would like to “be clear about who we don’t wanna [sic] work with.”
Whoopi Goldberg wasn’t amused. Fox News reports that the actress criticized the plan on Tuesday’s episode of ABC’s The View, saying: “The last time people did this, people ended up killing themselves. This is not a good idea, OK?”
“People will be coming after you”
Goldberg went on to slam advocates of such a “blacklist,” insisting: “Your idea of who you don’t want to work with is your personal business.”
“Do not encourage people to print out lists because the next list that comes out, your name will be on, and then people will be coming after you,” the 63-year-old warned.
Goldberg’s comments came from a place of experience. She went on to reference similar attempts to root out Hollywood communists in the 1950s.
“We had something called a blacklist, and a lot of really good people were accused of stuff,” Goldberg said. “Nobody cared whether it was true or not. They were accused. And they lost their right to work.”
The actress then challenged what has become a common tactic among many on the left.
“In this country, people can vote for who they want to. That is one of the great rights of this country,” Goldberg said. “You don’t have to like it, but we don’t go after people because we don’t like who they voted for. We don’t go after them that way.”
“Don’t print out lists”
Of course, Messing’s suggestion is hardly the only example of conservatives being singled out. Just last month, Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro (D) tweeted out a list of Trump donors in his district that included their names and employers, according to Fox News.
“Unless you support the white nationalism and the racism that Donald Trump is paying for and fueling, then I hope you, as a person of good conscience, will think twice about contributing to his campaign,” Castro wrote.
While the move was met with condemnation from many, MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough was more critical of Republican donors, accusing them of “funding this white supremacist campaign.” But even Goldberg realizes that this isn’t the right tactic.
“We can talk about issues and stuff,” she said Tuesday, “but we don’t print out lists.”
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