Wednesday Update: Barbara Streisand Says GOP Voting Laws ‘Silence People Of Color,’ Steven Seagal Joins Pro-Putin Party, Kate Hudson Thinks Matthew McConaghey Has ‘A Real Chance’ At Becoming Texas Governor

We’re tracking the conservative culture clash with woke Hollywood hypocrites to keep you up to date on who’s winning and who we hate. 

 Here’s what happened today:

Fundraising Fight

Liberal actress Barbra Streisand claims new GOP voting laws are trying to “silence people of color.”

In a fundraising email for the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, she wrote: “If we do nothing, Republicans will continue to spread lies, pass voter suppression laws, and use this year’s redistricting process to ensure they keep power for a decade or more.”

CIting her civil rights activism dating back to the 1960s, she said it was “disheartening” to witness “attempts to silence people of color” sixty years later. 

“The tactics Republicans are using today to restrict access to voting may have different names, but it’s the same old strategy: Keep anyone who disagrees with you – or who might look different than you – from expressing themselves in the political sphere,” she went on. “That’s exactly what gerrymandering and voter suppression do.” 

Pro-Putin

Ex-pat action star Steven Seagal joined a pro-Kremlin party known as “A Just Russia – Patriots – For Truth” on Saturday, which supports Russian President Vladimir Putin’s continued reign. 

Segal, who was given Russian citizenship by Putin in 2016, called for environmentally destructive businesses in the country to face stricter penalties.  

“Without being able to arrest people, when we just fine them, they are probably making more money off the production of the things that are defiling the environment,” Seagal commented.  

Hollywood actor Steven Seagal, a long-time admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin, joined a pro-Kremlin party https://t.co/pw2822Dtaz pic.twitter.com/ZHyYaY6Fur

— Reuters (@Reuters) May 30, 2021

A Real Chance

 Actress Kate Hudson thinks her “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” costar Matthew McConaughey could be elected governor of Texas if he decides to run. Though she was shocked when Rob Lowe brought up that McConaughey’s considering running for office, she thinks “he’d have a real chance.”

 “I guess it depends on what kind of, you know, platform he’s running on,” she said. “He’s a really interesting guy. If he does want to get into politics, I believe that … you probably wouldn’t get a politician who would care as much as he does, you know? I think he’s very authentic… But the governor of Texas is a big job.”

Snubbed 

Country singer Morgan Wallen reportedly failed to follow-up with the Nashville branch of the NAACP after expressing interest in a sit-down after his N-word controversy in February. Chapter President Cheryl Guinn said Wallen’s team went silent after an initial phone call. 

The singer, who has publicly apologized after a video was leaked of him drunkenly calling a friend by the racial slur, recently won three Billboard Awards for top country male artist, top country artist and top country album, despite not being allowed to attend the ceremony. 

Dropped

A Nashville hat store is apologizing for selling yellow Star of David patches with the words “not vaccinated” written in the center, likening COVID anti-vaxxers to Jews during the Holocaust.  

After protestors gathered outside of the store over the weekend, store owner Gigi Gaskins defended the patches by noting that without showing vaccine papers to schools, private businesses, and hospitals, citizens will not be granted entry. “All unvaccinated people will be segregated from society, marked, & must wear a mask. What comes next?

But when major vendors began pulling out after the online backlash, Gaskins issued an apology.  “In NO WAY did I intend to trivialize the Star of David or disrespect what happened to millions of people,” she wrote on Instagram. 

“That is not who I am & what I stand for. My intent was not to exploit or make a profit. My hope was to share my genuine concern & fear and to do all that I can to make sure that nothing like that ever happens again. I sincerely apologize for any insensitivity,” Gaskins concluded. 

Screenshot of a now-removed post from hatWRKS Nashville. Store owner (pictured) didn’t want to talk, and told us to leave her property. We’re talking to synagogue leaders tonight on FOX17 News at 9. pic.twitter.com/Di79WwB9mq

— Rachel Tiede (@RMTiede) May 28, 2021

Marie Finn