Mayim Bialik says she drew criticism from relatives after raising questions about COVID-era school shutdowns and the Black Lives Matter demonstrations of 2020.
The Big Bang Theory alum, 50, told the Second Thought podcast on Friday that her relatives accused her of being a Republican simply for expressing skepticism over liberal orthodoxy.
Speaking with podcast host and Free Press founder Suzy Weiss, Bialik said she had wanted room to discuss issues such as “school closures, church closures” and BLM marches rather than accept the prevailing view without debate.
“And even in my own home, it did not always feel safe,” she said.
During the podcast appearance, Bialik — who recently opened up about what she described as a “nightmare” experience with a weight-loss drug — said the pandemic intensified conflict and hostility between people.
“COVID messed everything up six ways to Sunday,” she said, arguing that the political divide began to feel less like opposite poles and more like a loop. “Because the crazy people on the left sounded as crazy as the people on the right.”
Mayim Bialik defended her willingness to question COVID school closures and Black Lives Matter marches during a serious discussion on Friday’s episode of the Second Thought podcast.
In 2020, Bialik questioned the public health logic of allowing Black Lives Matter protests while indoor businesses, churches and schools remained closed during the pandemic; protesters are pictured that year.
Bialik added that the climate pushed her toward outlets such as The Free Press, saying she was looking for a place willing to ask, “Wait a second, something’s not making sense and it’s not okay.”
Free Press is the media company co-founded by Weiss and her sister Bari Weiss, and Bialik, while not an owner, has been heavily involved as a guest and contributor.
Bialik continued: ‘And even like in my own home I was accused of being a Republican, right? Which like, nothing wrong with Republicans. I’m not a Republican though. Like I’m a bleeding-heart liberal. Like, name it, I’m a liberal.
‘When I said, “I think it’s time for Joe Biden to not be running for president.” You’ve turned on us. You’re a hidden Republican,’ Bialik said, recalling the accusations leveled at her head.
‘And like to me that is the most democratic thing: to be able to say, “We don’t all have to agree.”‘
Elsewhere in the interview, Bialik was asked about how she maintained normalcy in ‘Hollyweird’ during her four decades there.
‘For my personality, I think a lot of normal came from my parents being very fastidious about academics, being very fastidious about me not getting a swelled head, which sometimes felt punitive,’ said Bialik, who was 13 when Beaches was released.
‘Like, I just wanted to talk about it,’ Bialik told podcast host Suzy Weiss
‘And even in my own home, it did not always feel safe,’ the former Big Bang Theory star said; pictured in 2025
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Elsewhere in the interview, Bialik was asked about how she maintained normalcy in ‘Hollyweird’
‘I think a lot of normal came from my parents being very fastidious about academics, being very fastidious about me not getting a swelled head,’ said the star, pictured on the 1990s sitcom Blossom
‘I still did chores, I still did homework, I still had all those things. I wouldn’t consider myself “normal” by a lot of standards because of my story, my parents and my grandparents.
‘In terms of L.A., I never felt like an L.A. kid. Most people assumed I was raised in New York, I never talked like I was raised here. So I never really felt part of Hollywood even before I started acting.’
Bialik’s latest outspoken interview comes on the heels of her revelation that she struggled in Hollywood for years before Big Bang Theory came along.
She hadn’t nabbed a major TV role since the 1990s sitcom Blossom, in which she starred as the title character from the age of 14 to 19.
Save for a few roles in movies and shows, the former child star had mostly put her career on pause to further her education, including completing a PhD in neuroscience and doing some teaching work.
By the spring of 2010, practical things were on her mind when she auditioned to play Amy Farrah Fowler in the CBS series’ third season.
Speaking to Canadian talk show The Social in 2021, Bialik shared: ‘I’m sure you all up north can understand that I was running out of health insurance because that’s not considered a human right in this country.
‘And I figured if I can just get even a couple of jobs here or there, I’ll be able to get insurance again.’
Following her firing from Jeopardy in December 2023, Bialik is focused on expanding her social media presence and producing; pictured in 2023
Bialik was also the mother of two young sons at the time, Miles, now 20, and Frederick, 17, with then-husband Michael Stone, from whom she split in 2012 after nine years of marriage.
‘And I eventually auditioned for this show called The Big Bang Theory, which I had never seen, and it changed my life, and I got insurance,’ she remembered.
In 2021, Bialik won the spot as guest host on Jeopardy following the death of Alex Trebek before coming on board to host prime-time episodes and special editions. ‘I couldn’t be more thrilled to join the Jeopardy! family,’ she said at the time.
She was even host for the main show for a spell, until she was officially let go in December 2023. Ken Jennings was chosen to be the single, permanent host.
These days, Bialik is focused on expanding her social media presence and producing. She co-hosts the wellness and mental health podcast Mayim Bialik’s Breakdown and has her own production company, which allows her to develop TV and film projects.
