Kirstie Alley revealed why she was 'blackballed' from Hollywood in 2021 interview

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By VT

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Kirstie Alley, who died of cancer this week aged 71, leaves behind a legacy as a Hollywood powerhouse and one of TV’s most iconic actresses.

But in addition to her two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe, the former Cheers star became notorious for her outspoken right-wing political views in the latter stages of her life, which she claimed got her "blackballed" from the industry.

Alley’s political controversies first came to light in 2016, when she took to Twitter to share her “formal endorsement” of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.

The actress had previously endorsed Barack Obama in the previous two election cycles, and her support for the then-Republican candidate was seen in hindsight as a sign of things to come.

"HELLO BOYS! this is my formal endorsement of @realDonaldTrump and I'm a woman! (last I checked) And Rudy, U R amazing," she tweeted in April 2016, co-signing Trump’s attorney and former New York mayor Rudy Guiliani in the process.

Alley seemed to retract her position later in the election cycle, claiming in October that she was “no longer endorsing either candidate”, but later revealed that she had voted for Trump in both 2016 and 2020.

“I’m voting for @realDonaldTrump because he’s NOT a politician. I voted for him 4 years ago for this reason and shall vote for him again for this reason. He gets things done quickly and he will turn the economy around quickly. There you have it folks there you have it,” she said in October 2020.

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Credit: Zuma Press / Alamy

Her support for Trump attracted plenty of criticism from her Hollywood peers, and Alley subsequently spent much of her time engaged in sparring matches with both celebrities and the public on social media.

High-profile opponents included Bette Midler, who Alley clashed with in 2019 after the singer claimed Trump had paid African-Americans to appear in the background at a campaign rally, and former Will and Grace stars Debra Messing and Eric McCormack, who demanded to see the list of attendees at a Hollywood fundraiser for Trump.

“Please print a list of all attendees please. The public has a right to know,” Messing wrote in a now-deleted tweet, per news.com.au.

McCormack added: “Hey, @THR, Kindly report on everyone attending this event, so the rest of us can be clear about who we don‘t wanna work with.”

The remarks clearly got under Alley’s skin, and she fired back at the sitcom duo by tweeting: “I refuse to be part of the Hollywood a**hats who can’t see that ‘NOT working with Republicans’ is as stupid and NASTY as ‘REFUSING to do business with gay people’.. STOP ACTING above the FRAY ya damn hypocrites… WE are the same species! let’s help each OTHER ya damn yahoos.”

In a 2021 interview with Tucker Carlson, Alley claimed she was a victim of ‘cancel culture’, and that her outspoken conservative views had seen her blackballed from Hollywood.

"People go, 'You're so brave.' I go, 'No, I think I'm stupid.' Because honestly, it is a real blackballing situation," she said. "You can be cooking meth and sleeping with hookers, but as long as, apparently, you didn't vote for Trump... I feel like I'm in The Twilight Zone a bit, with the whole concept of it."

Following her passing this week, Trump himself paid tribute to the late actress, taking to his own social network Truth Social to write: "Kirstie was a fantastic person and a big supporter of America First and MAGA. She will be greatly missed!!!"

Our thoughts continue to go out to Alley's family and friends at this time.

Featured image credit: Steve Mack / Alamy