Renowned writer Jodi Picoult unleashed a fiery criticism toward Hollywood elites for ‘bowing down’ and opting not to produce films that might displease President Trump.
The acclaimed author of “My Sister’s Keeper” called out an ‘unnamed streaming platform’ in a TikTok video after plans to adapt her 2021 novel into a movie were unexpectedly dropped.
On Friday, she revealed, ‘Today I learned that after four years, they have chosen to scrap the project because “with the new administration, they don’t want to tackle a storyline centered around Covid.”‘
While Picoult did not explicitly name the streaming service, it is widely known that Netflix acquired the rights to her Covid-era tome Wish You Were Here back.
The book centers around a NYC woman in her late-20s woman whose life is upended by the arrival of the pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns.
Picoult was responding to a question on TikTok about why more of her books haven’t been turned into movies.
‘This is what I mean when I say even places that are considered to be very liberal, like Hollywood, are terrified of the Trump administration,’ she said.
‘They think there is going to be backlash if they don’t bend the knee.’
Trump has used hardball negotiating tactics during his second term to force CEOs and industries into making dramatic concessions.
He even slapped extraordinary tariffs on some of America’s closest allies.
But in a display of fondness for his favorite films, Trump has tried to remake Hollywood in his own image while railing against the cinema hub for its ‘wokeness.’
He threatened to impose a 100 percent tariff on foreign-made films in an effort to bring productions back to Hollywood, warning: ‘The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death.’
Trump also appointed several Ambassadors to Hollywood – right-leaning celebrities who endorsed him during his campaign, including Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone.
But Picoult argues Trump’s involvement has softened the industry, which once proudly opposed to the former reality TV star, and made executives and bigwigs more risk-averse.
To make matters worse for Picoult, members of the Trump administration have been openly critical of the handling of the Covid pandemic in the United States.
Trump himself has promoted a popular theory that the virus began in a lab in Wuhan, China.
Most recently, his administration limited approval for annual Covid booster shots to only seniors and others at high risk of falling ill with the virus.
‘I guess that means I better go out and write a book about an anti-vaxxer who is married to someone who thinks Ukraine started the war against itself, and they have a baby who drinks raw milk,’ Picoult said.
‘You’ll want to make that, right Hollywood?’
Picoult’s criticism marks the latest in a string of accusations that Hollywood has been tip-toeing on egg shells around angering Trump during this administration.
Oscar-nominated film The Apprentice, based on Trump’s early years as an up-and-coming businessman, struggled to secure a streaming deal after Trump criticized the film.
‘It’s hard to be creative when you’re afraid,’ Tom Nunan, from the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, told the Los Angeles Times.
‘I don’t think that people have really figured out what to do yet, how to express themselves or what’s going to be the most effective.’
Picoult was inundated with support from fans who were concerned Netflix would have butchered the adaption and were upset with how Hollywood changed the ending of her last work for the screen.
‘After they ruined My Sister’s Keeper, I’ll stick to just reading them,’ one supportive fan wrote.
In the comments section of her post, Picoult was asked about another book she wrote, Sing You Home, which followed the story of a woman who wanted to use frozen embryos she created with her ex-husband with her new wife.
The rights to the movie were acquired by Ellen DeGeneres back in 2011. A fan asked: ‘What ever happened to that?’
Picoult responded with a shocking take against Ellen, writing: ‘There is not enough alcohol in the world to tell that story.’
