Top celebrities, both right and left, hammer Walmart for censorship

Dennis Prager

Twenty-three media celebrities, both liberal and conservative, are chiding Walmart for its censorship of a free-speech movie, urging the retail giant to allow the sale of "No Safe Spaces."

Newsweek reports the celebrities' letter to Walmart follows the company's decision not to sell the DVD and Blu-ray discs for the movie, which was last year's most successful theatrical political documentary.

Starring comedian Adam Carolla and conservative commentator and radio host Dennis Prager, it documents the demise of free speech in America, particularly on college campuses, and touches on race relations.

The list of signers includes activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., journalist Megyn Kelly, former President Barack Obama special advisor Van Jones, longtime liberal law professor Alan Dershowitz, former Reagan Attorney General Edwin Meese, talk-show host Dave Rubin, singer-activist Pat Boone, Daily Wire founder Ben Shapiro, evangelical leader James Dobson and former Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas.

TRENDING: WATCH: 'I learned to be trans in church,' fashion model says

Megyn Kelly (Video screenshot)

The letter to Walmart CEO Doug McMillon accuses the company of political bias, which Walmart has denied.

In response to the letter, Newsweek said Walmart simply repeated its statement released earlier on the issue.

"Walmart works hard to meet the needs of its customers by providing a broad assortment of products to choose from," the statement said. "The DVDs sold in our stores and Walmart.com are based off data-driven customer insights and the content does not reflect the views of Walmart or its associates."

Newsweek previously reported Walmart typically carries political films by Michael Moore and other liberal film makers when they are first released on DVD. But the chain acknowledged it won't carry "No Safe Spaces," which is regarded as a conservative film.

Carolla told Newsweek it's ironic that a movie "about the importance of allowing Americans to share ideas freely" was deemed unfit for sale at Walmart.

"You can't make this stuff up," said Carolla. "It's a free country and Walmart is free to ban our movie, but our fans are also free to let Walmart know how they feel about that."

"Americans are now used to this type of treatment by Google, YouTube, Netflix and Twitter. But Walmart?" Prager told Newsweek when the decision first was announced. "What a sad day. Millions of Americans trust Walmart, and the thought that they are refusing to stock one of the biggest documentaries of 2019 — a documentary on the core American value, free speech, which features people of all political backgrounds, no less — is truly dispiriting."

WND reported the film follows Prager and Carolla as they visit college campuses across the country and interview students and professors, comedians and commentators on the left and right. Some have been victims of censorship.

Carolla is host of the world's No. 1 podcast, and Prager is known for his radio show, columns and PragerU, which itself has been the target of censorship for its politically incorrect views.

The film also features dramatic and comedic recreations of life-shaping moments in the lives of Prager and Carolla, including Prager's visit to the Soviet Union.

The film project began in 2017 with an Indiegogo fundraising campaign.

"Entitled snowflakes on college campuses raging and screaming every time they encounter an idea they disagree with," the film's Indiegogo page said. "These stories might be somewhat amusing if they weren’t such a dangerous indication of what’s to come. Trigger warnings, micro-aggressions, the suppression of free speech, and other illogical ideas born on campuses are proliferating and spreading out into the real world.

"Today’s campus snowflake is tomorrow’s teacher, judge, or elected official," it said. "And if that doesn’t scare you, maybe you should reconsider. No matter where you live or what you do, if you don’t think they way they do, they will attempt to silence and punish you."

Among the figures interviewed in the film is the popular psychology professor Jordan Peterson, known for his unrelenting stand against a Canadian bill that would compel politically correct speech.

See the "No Safe Spaces" trailer: