Julia Louis-Dreyfus, star of "Seinfeld," has issued a stark warning about President Donald Trump's potential escalation of his crackdown on critics. During the latest episode of her podcast "Wiser Than Me," she argued that it is always "the comedians who go down first" before other voices follow.
Podcast Monologue Highlights Attack on Facts
"I'm not sure how we got here, but all of a sudden we live in a world where facts are disputed," Louis-Dreyfus said in her opening monologue. "They're drowned in noise, and then they're weaponized. It's like there's this attack on our ability to trust what we perceive." She continued, "And then confusion and a kind of numbed, stupification are the result."
The Golden Globe winner claimed that art is particularly threatening to authority because it cannot be refuted by noise or rhetoric. Instead, art makes its case "through feeling," which "can't be controlled" and is often the first free speech domino to fall.
Comedy as a Mirror to Society
"I've done a lot of comedy in my career, and people don't immediately think of comedy as part of the artist holding up the mirror to society thing, but of course that's exactly what comedy does," Louis-Dreyfus said. "And that's why it's the comedians who go down first." She specifically named Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel as examples.
"The Late Show" was canceled last year after Colbert criticized CBS parent company Paramount Global for settling a $16 million lawsuit with Trump. The company was seeking FCC approval for an $8 billion merger at the time. Trump celebrated the cancellation on his Truth Social platform.
Kimmel's ABC show was also pulled last year amid conservative backlash over comments that Republicans were exploiting the killing of activist Charlie Kirk. Trump again celebrated the ouster, which was temporary. In April, FCC Chair Brendan Carr ordered early license reviews of Disney's eight ABC stations, potentially jeopardizing "Jimmy Kimmel Live." The host has frequently criticized Trump, who has repeatedly called for Kimmel to be removed from the air.
Resilience in the Face of Censorship
Kimmel has not stopped joking about Trump, even after Trump wished for "three more limping Late Night Talk Show Hosts" to follow Colbert. Kimmel has also poked fun at first lady Melania Trump.
"History can be rewritten and heroes removed, but it's harder to erase how people react to a novel or a painting or a movie," Louis-Dreyfus noted. "I mean, that's why they used to sneak rock and roll into the Soviet Union — people needed that forbidden feeling."
Though she never mentioned Trump by name, she said a play set in Gaza "or on the first tee at Mar-a-Lago" would "cause a bit of a fuss" today. She urged resilient noncompliance against censorship: "When there's so much propaganda and chaos, the artist's job gets more essential and, frankly, more dangerous."
She added, "When our government sees artists as the enemy … that's the start of something truly terrifying. It's a very small step from here to punishing dissent itself."
