Netflix, UTA, CAA And ViacomCBS Among Companies Signing “We Stand For Democracy” Voting Rights Ad

Ted Johnson
·3 min read
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Major corporations, celebrities and other prominent figures signed on to a two-page ad opposing “any discriminatory legislation or measures” that restrict eligible voters from having “an equal and fair opportunity to cast a ballot.”

Netflix, UTA, CAA and ViacomCBS were among the media and entertainment companies to sign the ad, which comes amid concerns over the impact of Republican voting legislation in Georgia, Texas and other states. Also signing were tech companies including Amazon, Alphabet, Apple, Facebook, Pinterest, Reddit and Salesforce, as well as live event businesses Live Nation Entertainment and Jazz Lincoln Center.

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The ad featured the headline, “We stand for democracy.” “Voting is the lifeblood of our democracy and we call upon all Americans to join us in taking a nonpartisan stand for this most basic and fundamental right of all Americans.”

Among the individuals who signed the ad was James Murdoch, the CEO of Lupa Systems. His brother, Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch, earlier this week defended Tucker Carlson after the Anti Defamation League called for his ouster. The ADL said that Carlson endorsed “white replacement theory” when it decried the influx of immigrant voters. Carlson cited the case of California over the past 40 years, telling viewers on Monday that “as your state swelled with foreign voters, your views became irrelevant. … The power to control your own life disappeared with the arrival of new people who diluted your vote.” Immigrants who become U.S. citizens have the right to vote.

The two page ad, running in The Washington Post and The New York Times, was paid for by Debra Lee, Casey Wasserman, Ursula Burns, Ken Jacobs, Joel Cutler, David Fialkow, Hemant Taneja, Ken Chenault, Ken Frazier, William Lewis, Clarence Otis and Charles Phillips. It was organized by the Black Economic Alliance, which last month called on corporations to fight restrictive voting laws.

Amid some calls for boycotts in Georgia, Major League Baseball moved the All Star Game from Atlanta to Denver, while Will Smith and Antoine Fuqua moved production of Emancipation from the state, a center of production. Tyler Perry and Stacey Abrams, however, have cautioned against boycotts while speaking out against the state’s law, passed in the aftermath of the 2020 election and Donald Trump’s unfounded claims that the vote was rigged.

Among the celebrities and other prominent figures signing on to the ad were Paula Abdul, J.J. Abrams, AMC Theaters’ Adam Aron, ViacomCBS’s Bob Bakish, Sacha Baron Cohen, Orlando Bloom, Michael Bloomberg, Scooter Braun, Warren Buffett, Naomi Campbell, Peter Chernin, George Clooney, Dan Cogan and Liz Garbus, Lee Daniels, Larry David, Leo DiCaprio, Channing Dungey, Bryan Fogel, Gary Foster, Josh Gad, David Geffen, Ariana Grande, Matthew Heineman, Ed Helms, Kate Hudson, LaTanya Jackson, Samuel L. Jackson, WndrCo’s Sujay Jaswa and Jeffrey Katzenberg, attorney Matthew M. Johnson, Magic Johnson, Rashida Jones, Nielsen CEO David Kenny, Queen Latifah, Lyn and Norman Lear, Demi Lovato, George Lucas, Michael Lynton, Rooney Mara, Kelly McCreary, Katie McGrath, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Rita Moreno, Gwyneth Paltrow, Katy Perry, Joaquin Phoenix, Roy Price, Penny Pritzker, Shari Redstone, Shonda Rhimes, Tracee Ellis Ross, Mark Ruffalo, Eric Schmidt, Howard Schultz, Amy Schumer, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, comedian George Wallace, Kerry Washington and Discovery CEO David Zaslav.

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