It's not that he's allowed to. It's that he has the opportunity to.

The thing to consider is that he's not the only one to have those views, so he's speaking on behalf of all the others who don't have the same opportunity to do so.

That's why celebrities are able to get away with it.

What makes their opinion any LESS valid? If you were well-known, wouldn't you want to use your voice to support things or causes you believe in? I know I would...

And ftr, Sean Penn did that because the ROLE he won the award for was that of a gay man who was murdered. The things he said were very relevant.

I would just add, the Academy Awards, while watched by the world, are INDUSTRY AWARDS. There is no reason why he shouldn't have made the speech he made.

There is no reason why he should have.

Well they have to talk about something. What's wrong with talking about the theme of the movie?

We call them royalties.

Same thing. Makes more sense than paying bonuses to people when the company is going down in flames...

Nothing - keep it to that - all of them. I used him as the latest example and perhaps a poor one. Oh well.
Take the award say thank and go away. I don't think its right for them to use that setting to espouse their political beliefs. Put it on a blog.

That would be akin to me talking politics to every client I speak to, or when someone calls in for IT help, or the pizza delivery guy or your auto mechanic...

You and the pizza guy and the mechanic can talk politics, or whatever, but you risk losing your customer. So do actors.

They live in a fantasy world 99.99999% of us can only dream of.
Whatevah.

I wouldn't pay money to go see a Tom Cruise movie.

One reason he should have is that he wanted to. What is the reason he shouldn't have?

If someone ends up with an audience, I applaud any efforts on their part to say something important, even at the risk of losing some people from their fanbase. If you don't want celebrities to say anything meaningful, why listen to them talk? And if you don't listen to them talk, why care about whether they're saying anything meaningful?

okie dokie - mums the word.

1) Because he has the right to defined by the Constitution and as an honorary member of the Academy.
2) Because he has further earned the right to by his accomplishments and respect of his peers.
3) Because that is the principle behind the movie.
4) Because his opinions have more validity than yours.
5) Because he is doing what is his job - promoting the movie.
5) Because far more people are interested in his opinions and few are interested in yours.
6) Because if you don't like it, then you could have changed the channel.
7) Because principles that make America great were defined in his speech.
8) Because those who promote hate would so dislike his comments as to divulge the hate that they champion.

Just a few reasons that justify his comments.

Well I think you might have had about half right there tw.