Tucker Carlson Calls out Celebrities for Supporting George Floyd Protests

Tucker Carlson called out celebrities and big corporations for supporting and contributing to the Black Lives Matter movement this week. On Friday, a clip from Carlson’s Fox News show went viral, showing a list of celebrity names and photos scrolling up the screen as Carlson condemned them for siding with protesters in the last two weeks. Viewers questioned whether those stars’ fans had a big crossover with Carlson’s audience to begin with.

Carlson began by reiterating his criticism of “cynical, soulless corporations” like Pepsi for supporting George Floyd protesters and the Black Lives Matter movement as a whole. “But it isn’t just major corporations that are fueling all of this, celebrities are too — by paying to get violent rioters out of jail,” Carlson said. He explained that the stars are contributing to things like the Minnesota Freedom Fund and other collective bail funds for arrested protesters, as well as the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

The names on Carlson’s list included Chrissy Teigen, Janelle Monae, Steve Carell, Seth Rogen, Don Cheadle, Kehlani, Colin Kaepernick, Ben Schwartz, Harry Styles, Patton Oswalt, Nick Kroll, Rob Delaney, Cynthia Nixon and Halsey. Meanwhile, in his voice-over he called out Lil Nas X, Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, and the entire cast of Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

By naming all of these celebrities in the same breath, many Twitter users argued that Carlson had proved their point. They thought that he showed here how people of all backgrounds could support a cause like Black Lives Matter. Some celebrities even responded with disappointment that they weren’t “famous enough to be on this list.”

Viewers also pointed out that Carlson’s segment misspelled Teigen’s last name, though the model infamous for her clap-backs has yet to respond. Some suggested that she should make a screenshot of the clip her profile picture for posterity.

This is not even the only meme that Carlson’s show has spawned in the last few days, as heated protests against police violence continue. In one segment, Carlson’s face frowned over the chyron: “what does racism look like?” Viewers joked amongst themselves that he was the answer to his own question. Meanwhile, Twitter user Bon Iverson edited one of Carlson’s segments to reframe the “violent young men” he described as the police themselves.

Whatever Carlson is saying, his share of the primetime news audience is shrinking, according to a report by The Wrap. Fox News was down in ratings this week while CNN was at near record-highs, beating out Fox and MSNBC for coverage of the ongoing protests. This is reportedly the first time CNN has been the top cable news outlet in the key demographic since 2001.