The 2025 Sundance Film Festival appears to be avoiding the overtly anti-Trump political demonstrations that have become synonymous with the festival in recent years, according to a report published by Variety on Tuesday.
After President Donald Trump was inaugurated for his first term in 2017, the festival was host to countless anti-Trump demonstrations and speeches. Chelsea Handler led a Women’s March on Main Street Park City with over 8,000 people, and artists such as Mary J. Blige used their film premieres as an opportunity to denounce the new president.
As noted by Variety, there has been a stark contrast between this year’s Sundance Film Festival, and years prior.
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Chelsea Handler leads the Women’s March on Main Street Park City on Jan. 21, 2017, in Park City, Utah. (Mat Hayward/GC Images)
“Fast-forward eight years, and it’s a very different picture. Trump is back in power, but the resistance movement he sparked failed to show up in Park City,” according to Variety.
The media outlet claimed that the lack of political theater at this year’s festival is partially by design, with publicists asking journalists to avoid asking their clients political questions.
“Publicists implored journalists to avoid asking their clients political questions, while celebrities who previously came out swinging against the MAGA movement were less eager to sound off,” Variety said.
Although there have been “no major demonstrations against the new administration,” so far this year, according to Variety, many of the films that premiered at the festival “had unmistakable political undertones, highlighting communities under attack by Trump and his followers or offering alternative visions of the world.”
Christian Toto, host of The Hollywood in Toto Podcast and creator of the entertainment website Hollywood in Toto, weighed in on why he thinks this year’s Sundance has been lacking its usual political stunts.
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Toto told Fox News Digital that he believes there are many factors at play.
“Blame several factors for the weak Resistance sequel. The industry is in trouble thanks to the pandemic’s fallout, the dueling 2023 industry strikes and, most recently, the devastating LA fires. Actors realize getting overtly political doesn’t help their bottom line at such a challenging time,” Toto said.
Hollywood may be starting to realize that their influence over the public has been greatly diminished over the last four years, with the 2024 election giving this theory some legs.
Toto pointed out that celebrities “did all they could to drag Kamala Harris across the finish line and it failed. They recognize their influence is waning and MAGA is on the rise.”
Some of the world’s biggest artists, such as Beyoncé and Kelly Rowland, pictured here, were unable to successfully convince voters to elect Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Although irrational fears of retribution from the Trump administration against celebrities critical of the president may also be playing a part in their decisions to lay off politics at this year’s festival, according to Toto.
“A few stars, and publicists, have an irrational fear that they’ll be punished for being critical of all things Trump. That’s more projection than anything else. Late-night hosts have been pummeling Trump for nearly a decade and no one is sitting in his gulag,” said Toto.
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