The hosts of The View sparred this week after actor Billy Bob Thornton said he refuses to use his Hollywood platform to push politics, prompting co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin to call out what she described as selective outrage from the table.
Thornton, 70, made the comments during an appearance on the Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast while explaining why he doesn’t deliver political lectures to the public. He referenced a Ricky Gervais-style warning to award-show speakers, paraphrasing it as: Get your little award and f— off.
Thornton said he doesn’t see himself as qualified to preach politics.
I don’t know anything about politics, Thornton said. I have no idea. And the stuff that I do believe, I don’t want to force it down somebody else’s throat because I’m not an expert on that.
While Whoopi Goldberg didn’t appear rattled by the remark, Joy Behar responded with a jab.
Imagine bragging about how uninformed you are, Behar said.
Sunny Hostin argued the country is in a moment where public voices matter and claimed celebrities shouldn’t sit it out.
We are at a crisis point in this country. I think democracy is participatory. I think when you have a platform, that means I have an outsized voice and when you have a platform, I think that you have a responsibility to speak up about what’s going on in this country and my view silence is complicity. We need every single ally to speak out, Hostin said.
The View co-hosts Joy Behar and Sunny Hostin LOSE their MINDS on Landman actor Billy Bob Thornton telling celebrities to shut up about politics.
Joy Behar: “Imagine bragging about how uninformed you are… No, ‘I don’t know anything about politics.’ You’re an American citizen,… pic.twitter.com/vAGw3JfGxK
— RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) May 12, 2026
Griffin pushed back, defending Thornton while accusing the panel of applying different standards depending on the politics involved.
“A, Billy Bob Thornton is one of my favorite actors. I’m never going to say a bad word about him, starting with that. But B, a lot of this table criticized George Clooney when he wrote his Biden op-ed,” Griffin said.
She argued Clooney did exactly what some of the hosts claim they want celebrities to do, and still got scolded for it.
“That is a celebrity using his voice, saying what he believes, it can’t just be when they agree with your position,” Griffin said.
Behar shot back that criticism is part of the deal.
He can say it and I can criticize it, that’s called free speech, Behar said.
Griffin then took aim at what she called slacktivism, arguing that some celebrity politics are more about feeling virtuous than doing the work. She also said people shouldn’t be pressured into taking public political positions.
I don’t think we should bully people, she added, saying, ‘You have to speak out.’
Co-host Sara Haines largely agreed, arguing that big celebrity political statements tend to land with people who already agree and inflame those who don’t, making the whole exercise more polarizing than productive.
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