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Why Won’t Hollywood Speak Up for TikTok?

Despite its free speech history, Hollywood isn’t joining the First Amendment challenges to the U.S. government’s TikTok ban. A deep dive into why studio heads, producers, and writers might be making the wrong call.

shou chew tiktok ceo
Why is Hollywood sitting out what could be a landmark First Amendment case? The refrain from industry people I’ve talked with seems to be, It’s not our fight. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Eriq Gardner
July 3, 2024

Once upon a time, Hollywood was the gallant defender of the controversial and the incendiary—from pornographers to foul-mouthed comedians, from animal abusers to anonymous provocateurs. The studio heads, producers, and writers stood behind the First Amendment, driven by the fear that they might be next on the chopping block. But when scholars,  racial justice groups, and other advocates filed amicus briefs last week challenging the new federal law that could ban TikTok, the entertainment industry was conspicuously absent.