Free speech started 2024 in the emergency ward.
- College students railed against it
- Hollywood (mostly) refused to support it
- The Biden administration actively worked against it
- The Left only supported it only when radical, pro-Palestinian views took a hit
The new year promises hope, real hope, for the first time in what seems like ages.
Let’s give credit where credit is due. The following pop-culture voices fought for the First Amendment in 2024. They used their platforms to promote expression and debate, even when it could have hurt their careers.
Especially since it could have hurt their careers.
The following personalities aren’t rock-ribbed conservatives. Many would consider themselves either liberal or apolitical. That’s another hopeful sign moving forward.
In no particular order, meet 2024’s free speech heroes.
Dr. Drew Pinsky
The mild-mannered “Love” doc transformed before our eyes. The “Loveline” alum rarely rocked the boat and eschewed political debates. Call him a moderate’s moderate, straining to see both sides of an issue.
COVID-19 radicalized Dr. Pinsky in profound ways, and deservedly so. He watched the government’s pandemic overreach with shock, recoiling at attempts to censor debate within the medical community.
That, and the steady free speech drumbeat from podcast partner Adam Carolla, left Dr. Pinsky famished for the truth.
If that meant interviewing “canceled” experts to let them have their say, so be it. He’d listen and let them speak their minds. That’s what the First Amendment is all about, and why it helps societies innovate in profound ways.
Bill Maher
The “Real Time with Bill Maher” host deserves a permanent place on any free speech heroes list. He’s been a rock in the culture wars, demanding we let people speak no matter their point of view. He was one of the earliest victims of “Cancel Culture” for his ill-advised quip tied to 9/11. He nearly got canceled again when college radicals attempted to cancel his 2015 UC Berkeley speech.
The current year reminded us of the lessons he learned along the way.
Maher reached out to conservative voices for his “Club Random” podcast, mocking the Left for shunning those who disagree with them. The simple act of chatting with a Dave Rubin or Zachary Levi felt radical in 2024, like something you’d hear on an obscure ham radio chat.
Maher made it mainstream, striking a blow for free speech in the process.
‘Triggernometry’
Comedians Konstantin Kisin and Francis Foster lack the name recognition of a Jim Gaffigan or Nikki Glaser. They more than make up for it with challenging debates over core free speech issues.
Their comic backgrounds taught them to question authority and savage the status quo (when necessary). Together, Kisin and Foster expose cultural malfeasance, elevate intellectual chatter and prove comedians can still offer hope in bleak times … like 2024.
That they do so sans political labels makes “Triggernometry” invigorating.
Tony Hinchcliffe
Howard Stern is a shell of his rebellious self, shilling for leaders eager to censor us. “Man Show” alum Jimmy Kimmel cries on national TV when elections don’t go his way.
We need outlaw comics to blaze new trails, and the “Kill Tony” host is the man for the job.
Hinchcliffe’s biggest claim to fame came in 2024 when he told a bruising joke during Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally. Sure, he previously sold out MSG via his “Kill Tony” podcast, but he needed to apologize before his rising star status collapsed.
Right? Nope.
Hinchcliffe refused to buckle, and his star shined even brighter. Even more important?
Hinchcliffe supported Trump to thwart a second Biden/Harris-style term and further encroachments on free speech. He’s not a political comedian by any stretch, but he recognized the stakes at play for artists under the Left’s censorious watch.
Joe Rogan
Two years ago Rogan scoffed at interviewing Donald Trump on his Spotify podcast. He had a change of heart late in the 2024 election cycle, letting Trump gain valuable access to Rogan’s bro-nation.
What changed?
Rogan, like Hinchcliffe, realized Team Biden/Harris stood for censorship. Trump, for all his bluster against his political foes, doesn’t.
It’s that simple.
Rogan’s free speech bona fides are as solid as any entertainer. He welcomes many voices on his popular podcast, and even extended an invitation to Vice President Kamala Harris during the campaign. She wisely rejected it, knowing a three-hour chat would expose her in all the wrong ways.
Can’t blame a fella for trying.
Rogan remains intellectually curious if far too smitten with conspiratorial thinking. Good thing he’s a comedian, not a journalist. If only more reporters respected the First Amendment as much as the “Fear Factor” alum.
J.K. Rowling
Imagine being one of Western culture’s most beloved figures one minute and a social pariah the next. The “Harry Potter” author lived that traumatic arc.
Rowling’s 2020 critique of the trans movement plastered a big, red target on her back. The Left disowned the progressive author. The media attacked her at every opportunity. Even the young actors who became millionaires thanks to her Harry Potter franchise turned on her.
Daniel Radcliffe is responding to #HarryPotter author J.K. Rowling’s anti-trans stances, saying her ongoing criticism makes him sad #THRNews pic.twitter.com/mX3puJNTW5
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) May 1, 2024
She never backed down, even though this happened during the height of Cancel Culture fever.
Now, the culture is reconsidering key trans-related issues, including the inclusion of trans women in women’s sporting events.
Rowling had enough money to survive her nuclear-level cancellation. She still could have backpedaled at any moment and begged for forgiveness. She might have even received it had she embraced far-Left activism.
Bending the knee can stop a Cancel Culture attack cold. Sometimes.
Instead, she held her ground. This year, the culture swung back in her direction on multiple fronts. And Max’s upcoming “Harry Potter” reboot openly embraced Rowling’s input, the ultimate rebuke to her culture war critics.
K-von
This genial comic goes into the belly of the beast – academia – to crack wise and face the consequences. K-von’s college appearances, with a hand from Turning Point USA, haven’t always gone smoothly.
He’s faced the Left’s wrath and lived to tell the tale. And, along the way, pointed out the absurdity of silencing a comedian for telling the “wrong” jokes.
Rob Schneider
“Deuce Bigalow: Free Speech Gigolo.”
That’s the worst sequel pitch ever and a fair assessment of Schneider’s journey. The “Saturday Night Live” alum became an unlikely GOP darling, embracing free speech along the way.
He understands how far his former party drifted from its core principles, and he’s sticking his professional neck out to make a difference.
He’s lost a few fans, but he’s not ready to back down.
“The thing about free speech is, free speech is all speech. Free speech isn’t for the nice stuff. It isn’t for the socially acceptable stuff. Free speech is the speech that challenges you. Free speech is the not-nice stuff. Easy speech or speech that’s acceptable to everybody doesn’t need any protection. I’m there to challenge the audience.”
Michael Rapaport
The actor-turned-comedian faced an onslaught of hate in 2024.
Why attack the “Beautiful Girls” alum? Sure, Rapaport throws plenty of sharp elbows when it comes to sports and politics. It’s his relentless support of Israel and the Jewish community which drew the Left’s wrath.
They tried to silence him at comedy clubs nationwide, with one Illinois club succeeding thanks to death threats and cowardice.
He kept on touring and talking, showing other artists the power of speech in the process.
“If it was someone’s thoughts, ideas, sexuality, this would be unacceptable…But because this is Jewish, veiled in Zionist, it’s somehow palatable in 2024 and I will not back down,” Rapaport said in an interview ahead of the show.
NOTE: Elon Musk deserves inclusion on this list. He singlehandedly transformed Twitter into a freer speech arena that proved consequential to the 2024 political campaigns. His political evolution makes him a more complicated figure. He’s also not an entertainer in a traditional sense, which is Hollywood in Toto’s main focus.
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