A group of wealthy Hollywood celebrities and activists celebrated America’s 250th anniversary by launching a video campaign encouraging Americans to oppose the administration of President Donald Trump.
The video, which debuted on Variety, featured dozens of celebrities, including Mark Ruffalo, Sarah Jessica Parker, Ted Danson and Judd Apatow. During the approximately 10-minute video, they read rules from the 2017 book “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century,” written by author and historian Timothy Snyder.
At the beginning of the video, Snyder warns viewers that next November’s midterm elections represent a “tipping point” for the country, saying voters will either move in the right direction or things will get worse.
“Today, Republic is 250 years old. As strange as it may seem to me, this book has been sitting alongside Republic for the past 10 years. I wrote it in November of 2016,” Snyder said in the clip.
He added: “As I look forward to next November, I see a turning point for our republic.” “A time when things can go very well, or they can get really, really sick.”
Reading from the book and its suggestions on how a nation could turn to tyranny, the celebrities recited lines including “Never obey in advance” delivered by Leslie Odom Jr., Sheryl Lee Ralph, and Holland Taylor. Isabel Allende and Lisa Rinna read another article entitled “Beware of a One-Party State.”
Actor Mark Ruffalo, known for his appearances in the Marvel “Avengers” films, explained the reason for his participation in the video during his conversation with Variety. Ruffalo has long been an outspoken critic of the Trump administration.
“I hope that after this very bad and corrupt time we are in now, we move away from a government that caters to the rich and powerful and focuses on the needs, desires and dreams of children and young people,” Ruffalo told Variety, later adding: “Keep America moving toward its great promise and not the petty mistakes and cruelty of its past.”
Ruffalo also called for closing the wealth gap, cherishing the planet and abandoning “the colonial mentality of land theft, extractive economies, domination and materialism; embracing Indigenous wisdom and a worldview of circular economies, and respecting all things and beings as our relatives and, therefore, worthy of our care and thought.”
Snyder also posted his Substack video to the
In describing his video, Snyder took direct aim at the current 250th anniversary celebrations, writing that the leaders behind them represent a “threat to freedom.”
“It is unfortunate that those leading our solemn celebration today represent every threat to freedom that the Founders called: arbitrary rule; indifference to law; unjustified accumulation of wealth; government corruption to obtain that wealth; collusion with foreign powers to gain power,” he wrote.
He also listed participants including Isabel Allende, Judd Apatow, Margaret Atwood, Joan Baez, Sophia Bush, Misha Collins, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Ted Danson, Ron Funches, Tony Goldwyn, Eric Holder, Jennifer Lewis, Leslie Odom Jr., Sarah Jessica Parker, Billy Porter, Maria Ressa, Lisa Rinna, Molly Ringwald, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Mark Ruffalo, J. Smith Cameron, Holland Taylor, Viet Thanh Nguyen, and Bradley Whitford.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not immediately receive a response.