Hollywood stars, business leaders sign open letter opposing new voting restrictions

A virtual who’s who of Hollywood — including George Clooney, Queen Latifah, Kerry Washington, Katy Perry, Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel L. Jackson — are adding their names to an open letter condemning voting restrictions, published following the signing of a controversial elections law in Georgia.

The letter published Wednesday appeared in The Washington Post, The New York Times and other papers as an ad sprawled across two full pages.

“We stand for democracy,” the message said in bold letters.

“As Americans, we know that in our democracy we should not expect to agree on everything,” the letter stated. “However, regardless of our political affiliations, we believe the very foundation of our electoral process rests upon the ability of each of us to cast our ballots for the candidates of our choice.”

“We all should feel a responsibility to defend the right to vote and to oppose any discriminatory legislation or measures that restrict or prevent any eligible voter from having an equal and fair opportunity to cast a ballot,” the letter said.

“Voting is the lifeblood of our democracy and we call upon all Americans to join us in taking a nonpartisan stand for this most basic and fundamental right of all Americans,” it continued.

The letter was also signed by hundreds of major corporations and top executives, including Target, Google, Amazon and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett.

Among the performers and entertainment industry figures who signed the letter were: Sacha Baron Cohen, Orlando Bloom, J.J. Abrams, Paula Abdul, Naomi Campbell, Lee Daniels, Larry David, Josh Gad, Ariana Grande, Ed Helms, Kate Hudson, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Norman Lear, Demi Lovato, George Lucas, Rooney Mara, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Rita Moreno, Gwyneth Paltrow, Joaquin Phoenix, Shonda Rhimes, Tracee Ellis Ross, Mark Ruffalo and Amy Schumer.

WE STAND FOR DEMOCRACY — 100s of companies and exec sign this letter opposing “any discriminatory legislation.” Ad appeared in the NYT and @washingtonpost today. w / @andrewrsorkin https://t.co/TSPtxjkWhR pic.twitter.com/bAtS8SyseB

— David Gelles (@dgelles) April 14, 2021

Hundreds of CEOs and more than 110 corporations sign onto effort opposing voting restrictions. Ad taking up 2 full pages in today’s New York Times and Washington Post says: “For American democracy to work for any of us, we must ensure the right to vote for all of us.” pic.twitter.com/fswgnithRm

— Kevin Bohn (@KevinBohn) April 14, 2021

The high-profile letter comes after Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed Republican-backed legislation last month that includes more identification requirements for absentee voters, limits drop boxes and seeks to bar anyone other than poll workers from giving food or water to Georgians waiting in line to cast their ballots.

Democrats and voting rights advocates have argued that the law amounts to minority voter suppression.

Earlier this week, Will Smith announced that he and Antoine Fuqua, the director of his upcoming project, “Emancipation,” would move production of the film out of Georgia in protest of the new law.

“We cannot in good conscience provide economic support to a government that enacts regressive voting laws that are designed to restrict voter access,” Smith and Fuqua said in a joint statement.

Multiple other GOP-led states, including Texas, have advanced or are considering new voting reforms after the 2020 election.