Meryl Streep did not attack Donald Trump.
I watched that speech live and I’d like for you to point to exactly where an attack occurred.
She said about Donald Trump mocking a disabled person:
There was nothing good about it, but it did its job. It kind of broke my heart when I saw it, and I still can't get it out my head because it wasn’t in a movie, it was in real life. That instinct to humiliate when it’s modeled by someone in a public platform, it filters down into everyone’s life because it gives permission for others to do the same.
That was not an attack. That was the truth.
Perhaps you’re just asking if it was appropriate for Meryl Streep to discuss Donald Trump during the Golden Globes, which is a fair question.
Yes. It was appropriate. It was more than appropriate.
Meryl Streep was in a position of great power and privilege as she stood to accept that award, and she used it. She was speaking to some of the most influential and wealthy artists in the world, and she took the time to remind them of what they can do. As she said, being an actor is a privilege. They’re privileged to do their work, and with that privilege comes the responsibility to shed light on injustice and to support those with less privilege.
She could not have done so more elegantly, more honestly, or more perfectly than she did.
Artists are the purveyors of empathy and compassion, and we’re dealing with a president-elect that acts as if he lacks both. There is no more perfect time to remind artists of this duty than now.
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