R. Lee Ermey Had an Iconic Career, but Felt ‘Blackballed’ in Hollywood for Being Conservative
R. Lee Ermey had a unique career. After earning a Golden Globe nomination for his breakthrough role in Stanley Kubrick’s “Full Metal Jacket,” the Marine-turned-actor went on to craft one of the most domineering onscreen personas in Hollywood. According to Ermey himself, however, he was “blackballed” by the film industry because of his conservative political views.
“I’ve had a very fruitful career. I’ve done over 70 feature films,” he said to FOX411 in July of 2016. “I’ve done over 200 episodes of [‘GunnyTime’]… and then [Hollywood] found out that I’m a Conservative.” Ermey died yesterday at age 74 due to complications from pneumonia.
“I’m an Independent, but I said something bad about the president. I had something unsavory to say about the president’s administration, and even though I did vote for him the first time around, I was blackballed.” Ermey attributed this in part to the fact that he was an NRA board member.
In December 2010, Ermey had this to say about President Obama’s economic policies: “We should all rise up, and we should stop this administration from what they’re doing because they’re destroying this country. They’re driving us into bankruptcy so that they can impose socialism on us, and that’s exactly what they’re doing, and I’m sick and damn tired of it and I know you are too.”
“Do you realize I have not done a movie in five to six years? Why? Because I was totally blackballed by the…liberals in Hollywood,” he claimed in the FOX411 interview. “They can destroy you. They’re hateful people [who] don’t just not like you, they want to take away your livelihood…that’s why I live up in the desert on a dirt road…I don’t have to put up with their crap.”
Ermey apologized for his comments, which came during a Marine Corps Reserve’s Toys for Tots rally, and said that he was fired by GEICO due to his politically charged statements. “I wasn’t too kind about speaking with…the present administration, so they fired me,” he said. “If you’re a conservative in this town, you better watch out.”
