So how much does Stephen Spielberg’s support of Hillary really mean? I asked a few of the many DC refugees who now toil in La-La-Land. Their take: Not as much as you’d think. Money-wise, Spielberg isn’t much of a rainmaker; it’s not like he’ll be calling up Tom Hanks and the rest of his pals and shaking the trees for HRC. In that regard, the more valuable ally is someone such as Haim Saban, the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers mogul and prolific Democratic bundler. As for Spielberg’s support translating into some kind of Hollywood-for-HRC fad, Tinseltown is slightly more craven than that. Says one of my DC refugees: First of all, in terms of making Hillary “cool,” people like bad-boy director Brett Ratner probably matter more. Second of all, “cool” only goes so far, even in California:
An interesting side note from the Ratner event [this Hillary fundraiser] was that Ben Silverman was a co-host. At the time he committed he was an independent producer (Ugly Betty, The Office) but the day before the event he got named president of NBC replacing Kevin Reilly which brings up two things. One, it’s doubtful someone so new to running a network would take a strong position on a candidate in the primary but he was already committed and two, last minute donations to the event went up because of him not HRC. I know several agents, for example, who are Republican who said, “Sh*t, now I have to go since Ben is a co-host.”
Like Washington, it’s still is a company town.