The former Saturday Night Live! comedian Rob Schneider has long been known as one of the only openly conservative stars in Hollywood.
In a new interview, Schneider is claiming that conservatives are blatantly blacklisted in the entertainment world these days. Indeed, Schneider is bravely exposing what he sees as the “rot in the soul of Hollywood.”
Schneider Calls Out Liberal Hollywood
In the early 2000s, Schneider had a hugely successful career in Hollywood. He was starring in hit comedies like Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo and The Hot Chick, and more. However, that all changed when Schneider started publicly expressing his rightwing political views.
“That was it for me starring in movies,” Schneider, 62, said while appearing on the “American Thought Leaders” podcast.
“The act of telling the truth in an age of authoritarianism, in an age of lies, is a courageous act,” he continued. “And I’m not saying that I’m courageous. When I think of real courage, I think of… in any major city, the cemeteries of people who gave their, what Lincoln describes, the last full measure of their devotion for this great land.”
“That is a sacrifice,” Schneider added. “I mean, the fact that I’ll never make Deuce Bigalow 4, 5 and 6, I think is fine.”
Schneider could not help but laugh at the comparison between the two. However, he also admitted that the impact that having conservative views has had on his career has been “a bummer.”
“Show business, wrong or right, they don’t want any controversy,” Schneider stated. “You know, they don’t want you being mouthy or anything, and that makes sense, but I do think that at a certain point, if we’re going to have a society and if we’re going to continue to have a free society, it’s going to require people to step up and be courageous.”
The ‘Rot In The Soul Of Hollywood’
Schneider went on to acknowledge that the while the First Amendment does allow for this kind of courage, freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequences.
“You can ask Jimmy Kimmel,” he quipped. This was seemingly a reference to Kimmel being suspended in September of 2025 after comments he made about the assassination of Charlie Kirk. “It’s going to cost you.”
To make his point, Schneider cited the late great Hollywood star Charlton Heston as an example. Heston, who died in 2008 at the age of 84, was one of the stars of Hollywood’s golden era. He was also an early supporter of the civil rights movement. Sadly, Heston was later later “rejected by the liberal intelligentsia because he just happened to be a conservative.”
“I think that’s shameful,” Schneider lamented. “I think that’s a rot in the soul of Hollywood. And I think today’s blacklisting of conservatives is the same thing. I think, at its core, it is adding to its destruction. And I think we are seeing Hollywood completely dismantle itself.”
Schneider’s Warning To Hollywood
Schneider firmly believes that this will backfire on Hollywood. Indeed, he predicts that in five years, major film studios in Los Angeles “will just be real estate.” Instead of watching movies made by Hollywood, Schneider thinks that audiences will turn to social media videos for entertainment.
“I think you’re going to see – you’re seeing right now – a rejection of Hollywood,” Schneider concluded. “You’re seeing an implosion of it.”
Given the consequences that come with being a conservative in Hollywood, it’s rare that an entertainer who privately holds rightwing views is brave enough to speak out as Schneider is. Here’s hoping that more Hollywood stars “come out” as conservatives in the coming years.
God bless you, Rob Schneider!