Following President Trump’s executive order banning seven majority Muslim countries from entering the US, awards speeches have become more politically critical than usual.
The Hollywood luvvie backlash all began after Meryl Streep’s accusation at the Golden Globes that Trump mocked a disabled reporter.
However it was last weekend’s Screen Actors Guild awards that saw back-to-back speeches, most notably from Stranger Things star David Harbour who received a standing ovation.
Now a BAFTA source has revealed insider concern over a repeat at the upcoming awards show.
Speaking with The Sun, they said: “Having 15 back-to-back Trump speeches would be a disaster and would take complete attention away from the films.
“The anti-Trump bandwagon in Hollywood is particularly volatile at present, with the most ardent campaigners using any high-profile platform to express their views.”
The source continued: “Nobody wants to tell the stars what they should or shouldn’t say and bosses expect the odd reference.
“But the last thing they want is a string of political rants — particularly with Trump’s UK visit and his Muslim ban in full flow.
“They can’t exactly ask these A-listers not to specifically mention Trump.”
They added: “They’ll have no choice but to edit if the stars launch personal attacks or bring up issues such as racism.”
Lucky for BAFTA, the ceremony is not broadcast live, so producers have a two-hour time gap to edit anything too controversial.
The BAFTAs will be broadcast on BBC1 on Sunday February 12, 2017.
Daily Express :: Entertainment Feed
