Matthew McConaughey's hopeful monologues were a few of the things keeping us sane last year. With the coronavirus disrupting our lives, cities going up in flames, and politics becoming nastier than ever, the Texas actor took every opportunity he could to urge us to find common ground. And yes, some of those opportunities came on Fox News, as well as some conservative-minded podcasts.
And for those calls to unity, McConaughey is being dubbed an "alt-right" sympathizer by The Daily Beast. "Matthew McConaughey Keeps Flirting with Alt-Right Darlings," the outlet claims in a new piece. The feature focuses largely on the Oscar winner's recent chat with Jordan Peterson about the harmful effects of cancel culture. He's spoken out against the trend a lot on his tour for his new book, "Greenlights." Peterson is a Canadian clinical psychologist and a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto. But the Daily Beast has apparently dubbed him as part of the "alt-right" and a "twerp" because he's advocated against using gender neutral pronouns.
Here's just a snippet of McConaughey's chat with Peterson, in which the two men agree that forever canceling someone for the poor decisions they've made in the past benefits no one.
“It seems inappropriate, because we’d lose everybody that way,” Peterson said. “And then we just have loss. That’s not helpful.”
“Yes. Yes!” McConaughey said. “I mean, I think you’re leaning into a lot of what we call cancel culture today. You know, in the name of rehabilitation, we have to have a world in which we are able to grow and evolve, if that’s what we’re trying to do. Now... I’m not for repeat offenders or tyrants, but if someone screws up and they have sincere—they sincerely want retribution (sic), I think it’s fair to give...”
The Daily Beast also references McConaughey's past statements about President Trump. In a talk with the BBC, the actor suggested that instead of tearing down the new commander in chief, they accept that he's their president for at least the next four years. How dare he, the Beast writes. And, as he suggested in his talk with fellow actor Russell Brand a few months ago, Trump voters should be treated just as kindly as anyone else.
“There is a lot on that illiberal left that absolutely condescend, patronize or are arrogant towards that other 50 percent," McConaughey regretted. "This is where the left misses it for me, just as far as being a marketeer of a political side."
Do any of the above takes put the actor anywhere near the "alt-right?"
As a few others on social media pointed out, The Daily Beast appears to be confused by who qualifies as the "alt-right."
None of the people named in this article are associated with the alt-right pic.twitter.com/aHVaEaCC7c
— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) January 14, 2021