-United Talent Agency protests Trump Muslim ban by canceling Oscar party and donating $250,000 to ACLU
UTA client Bryan Cranston is a regular at the mega-agency’s Oscar party.
(CHRISTOPHER POLK/GETTY IMAGES FOR TNT)
The party — typically attended by hundreds of tinseltown’s brightest stars including UTA clients like Bryan Cranston, Mark Ruffalo, Alicia Vikander and filmmakers Ethan and Joel Coen — was held last year at the $11 million, 7,125-square-foot mansion owned by UTA chairman and mega-agent Jim Berkus.
Comic Sarah Silverman, a UTA client, won’t be partying at her agency’s annual pre-Oscar party, but she might attend the pro-immigration rally the company is holding instead.
(ALEX WONG/GETTY IMAGES)
In place of the party, UTA will sponsor an pro-immigration rally “to express the creative community’s growing concern with anti-immigrant sentiment in the United States,” agency officials said.
The Feb. 24, planned for two days before the Oscars, is meant to combat the “potential chilling effect on the global exchange of ideas and freedom of expression,” UTA officials said.
UTA client Toby Keith won’t be attending his agency’s annual pre-Oscar party — it’s been canceled.
(LARRY BUSACCA/GETTY IMAGES FOR SONGWRITERS HAL)
Trump’s shocking immigration ban had a direct impact on UTA — the firm represents Academy Award-winning Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi who was nominated for another Oscar this year in the best foreign-language film category for “The Salesman.”
February 10, 2017 at 1:29 pm
The move by UTA to donate the money for civil liberties union is a positive move. The protests against muslim ban must continue in all parts of the US