Updated: Grimes Garners Hollywood Support

UPDATE April 13, 2014: 

The list of Grimes’ Hollywood supporters continues to grow. The Hill reported in late October that Danny DeVito, Jack Black, Jon Hamm, Nicolas Cage, Jerry Seinfeld, Cameron Diaz, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mike Meyers, James Cameron, Steven Speilberg, and J.J. Abrams all gave the maximum $5,200 to Grimes’ campaign. Chris Rock and Ted Danson contributed $5,000. Actor Ben Stiller gave $2,500, Barbra Streisand and Aaron Sorkin contributed $1,000, while Woody Allen and Leonard Nimoy gave $500 each, according to FEC filings.

After a closer look the FEC filings, there are a few more names to add to the list: Nicholas Cage, Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Judd Apatow, Rhea Perlman, Mark Burnett, Kate Capshaw, Norman Lear, David Geffen, Ari Emanuel, and Leslie Mann all donating $5,200. Veteran actor Kirk Douglas gave $5,000, Ron Meyer and America Ferrera gave $2,600, Bryan Cranston gave $2,500, Rob Reiner gave $1,250, Renee Zellweger and Kathleen Kennedy gave $1,000, and Nancy Sinatra gave $250.

Stay tuned as more FEC filings become public.

Original post: Sept. 12, 2013

Even though the 2014 elections are more than a year away, Hollywood liberals have already begun fundraising and supporting Democratic candidates. Rising Democratic star and Kentucky Senate candidate, Alison Lundergan Grimes, is the most recent favorite of Hollywood mega-donors.

The Hill reports Dreamworks’ Jeffrey Katzenberg sent an email to prominent Democratic donors stating that there was “no more important election being held next year in this country” and urged donors to support the Kentucky Secretary of State when she travels to California this month.

Katzenberg isn’t the only Hollywood-type to lend his support. Pop star will.i.am. is set to appear at a Grimes fundraiser in coming weeks.

Grimes is running against Republican Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell, who is running for a sixth term.

Grimes is the second Democratic candidate to gain Hollywood support for the next election cycle. Newark Mayor Cory Booker (the Democratic candidate in New Jersey’s special election on October 16) has received a large amount of support from the Hollywood community – including fundraisers held by Oprah Winfrey, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon and Steven Spielberg.

Democratic supporters hope Hollywood’s interest can bring attention and money to the uphill battle of defeating one of the longest-serving Senators currently in the Senate chamber.

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon To Co-Host Fundraiser for Cory Booker

Actors Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are co-hosting a fundraiser for New Jersey Senate hopeful Cory Booker, reports The Hollywood Reporter.

The fundraiser will take place Sept. 23 at host Ron Burkle’s house. Ticket prices range from $1,000 – $10,000 a piece.

Joining the fundraising duo, who previously co-hosted a fundraiser for Sen. Elizabeth Warren, will be Hollywood Democratic heavyweights J.J. Abrams and his wife Katie McGrath, Jennifer Garner, Michael Eisner, Troy Carter, WME co-CEO Patrick Whitesell, talent agency head Bob Gersh, Disney exec Sean Bailey, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos and former US Ambassador Nicole Avant, according to THR. Also joining the co-hosts is producer Jerry Weintraub who previously hosted a fundraiser at his house in late April.

This is the latest fundraiser and wave of Hollywood support for Booker, who recently won the Democratic primary in a landslide victory.

Ivanka Trump hosted a fundraiser in July and Oprah Winfrey hosted a fundraiser in early August. Since declaring his candidacy, the Newark Mayor has gained the public support of actresses Kate Mara and Eva Longoria.

Booker will face Republican Steve Lonegan in the special election on October 16, 2013. The seat was previously held by Democrat Sen. Frank Lautenberg who died in June at the age of 89.

Senator Ben Affleck?

Sen. John Kerry and Affleck Photo credit: Kris Connor/Getty Images

UPDATE: Affleck took to his Facebook page to respond to the rumors surrounding a possible Senate bid:

“I love Massachusetts and our political process, but I am not running for office. Right now it’s a privilege to spend my time working with Eastern Congo Initiative (ECI), supporting our veterans, drawing attention to the great many who go hungry in the U.S. everyday and using filmmaking to entertain and foster discussion about issues like our relationship to Iran.

We are about to get a great Secretary of State and there are some phenomenal candidates in Massachusetts for his Senate seat. I look forward to an amazing campaign.”

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Actor Ben Affleck‘s name is one of a handful that is being speculated as a possible candidate for Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry’s seat. Kerry who was nominated by President Obama to be the next Secretary of State on Friday, is  expected to be confirmed, thus opening up a seat.

Affleck -a Cambridge native- has been an ardent supporter of the Democratic Party and most recently hosted a fundraiser for newly-elected Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

Affleck appeared on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday, where host Bob Schieffer asked him about the rumors of a Senate bid.

“One never knows. I’m not one to get into conjecture,” Affleck said.“I do have a great fondness and admiration for the political process in this country. It’s a big deal for me to come down here and be on your show that I’ve watched so much, but I’m not going to get into speculation about my political future.”

“I like to be involved — right now I’m really happy being involved from the outside in government, advocating for the Congolese, taking this move that I made, ‘Argo,’ and it’s really become a springboard for dialogue about our relationship with Iran, which is, you know, as Hillary Clinton said, the most pressing foreign policy issue today — so I got a lot on my plate,” Affleck said.

Politico reports Affleck was on Capitol Hill this week speaking to the House Armed Services Committee hearing about the security in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Affleck is the founder of the Eastern Congo Initiative which is an advocacy group that aids communities in social and economical development initiatives.

In 2001, Affleck told GQ that he’d like to run for office in the future.

“My fantasy is that someday I’m independently wealthy enough that I’m not beholden to anybody, so I can run for Congress on the grounds that everyday people should be in government,” Affleck said.

However, the actor seems to have changed his mind in the December issue of GQ.

“So, no, the answer is: I don’t want to run for office. And I don’t even like working in partisan politics. People get so wound up and so ugly now. I find that doing things that are independent where you can really actually make a difference, where you can affect policy, you can affect change, means more than doing the partisan political thing.”

Affleck said he has been approached to run for office in the past.

“That race was a Senate race. But of course there’s also of course the Senate race in Massachusetts,” Affleck said. “Whenever the few races have come up, when they just start casting around for names to throw in there, mine comes up.”

Affleck is the latest celebrity whose name has been floated as a Senate candidate. Actress Ashley Judd has allegedly been considering a run against Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Ben Affleck and Obama: It’s Complicated

Like friend and fellow actor Matt Damon, Ben Affleck has mixed feelings about the president, according to The Associated Press.

“I voted for Obama last time although he got to be all things to all people then,” Affleck said in an interview to promote his new film “Argo.” “And now he’s got a record which makes it really different … I obviously have more complicated feelings.”

Affleck said Romney falls under a specific category of failed presidential hopefuls.

“I think Republicans really had a chance to win,” Affleck said. “And they kind of ended up with like a sort of Mike Dukakis, Al Gore, Bob Dole type – who just couldn’t get people to see him as a real person somehow. Romney just had such trouble coming off as just like the kind of person you see at the grocery store. And I truly believe that has cost him the election.”

Elizabeth Warren Brings in Big Cash at Hollywood Fundraiser

Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren raked in big cash and names at a fundraiser hosted by actor Ben Affleck.

Warren is running against Republican Sen. Scott Brown. The seat was previously held by Sen. Ted Kennedy before his death in 2009.

The event at J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot production studio in Santa Monica on Monday was dubbed “A Massachusetts Evening.” Actors Matt Damon and The Office’s John Krasinski were co-hosts of the event, however both Damon and Krasinski were filming on location and couldn’t attend the fundraiser. It drew about 150 Hollywood donors, along with more than 200 individual donations to the Warren senatorial effort, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Celebrities and industry professionals included Affleck’s wife Jennifer Garner, Reese Witherspoon, Zach Braff, Dana Delany, Tobey Maguire, Ed Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz, Alan Horn and Writers Guild president Chris Keyser. Other contributors included Steven Spielberg, Rob Reiner, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Sally Field, Michael King, Harvey Weinstein and Alan Ladd Jr.

The Warren campaign has yet to release the fundraising totals from the event. However, Warren’s fundraisers had set a goal of $250,000 for the evening. Donations were ranging between $1,000 and $1,500 per person.

More Hollywood Support for Warren

Hollywood stars are opening their wallets once again for Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Actors Ben Affleck and Matt Damon will co-host a fundraiser in Santa Monica on May 21, with The Office’s John Krasinski and Lost creator J.J. Abrams. The event is entitled, “A Massachusetts Evening,”and donations to attend the fundraiser will range from $1,000 -$5,000.

Affleck, Damon and Krasinski are all natives of the Bay State.

Warren is going up against Republican Sen. Scott Brown who won the seat in the 2010 special election, after former Sen. Ted Kennedy passed away.

In recent months, Warren, a Democrat, has garnered quite a bit of support from Hollywood.  Major industry donators include: Will Ferrell, Barbra Streisand, Ron Howard, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Steve Bing and Hans Zimmer. Other celebrities that have been vocally supportive of Warren are Cher and Danny DeVito.

The Brown campaign has criticized Warren’s support from the entertainment industry and painted her as “out-of-touch” and “elitist” for attending these fundraisers and mingling with celebrities.