It’s no secret that nearly everybody in Hollywood notoriously hates anybody who associates with the Republican Party and especially its leaders.
Of course President Trump immediately comes to mind but others in the top three definitely include Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Mitch McConnell.
And one actor was furious when Sen. Mitch McConnell’s team posted a classic reaction gif from his television show.
We live in a new age visual landscape. People love to use gifs to explain their moods or tell their stories. It seems like a lowbrow way to explain a situation but sometimes it’s like poetry – in the sense that the reaction gif sums it up perfectly.
That’s what happened on Mitch McConnell’s Twitter page when he posted a gif of Adam Scott from the hit NBC show “Parks & Recreation,” co-starring Amy Poehler, Chris Pratt, Rob Lowe and Aubrey Plaza.
The gif stems from something President Trump said on Monday in an exclusive interview with The Hill.
Trump was asked if he would make a nomination to the Supreme Court if there’s a vacancy before the 2020 presidential election and he responded, “Would I do that? Of course.”
He added on whether they will get whoever the nominee is confirmed, “It depends. I mean, we have the Senate. We have a great Senate. We have great people. If we could get him approved, I would definitely do it. No, I’d do it a lot sooner than that. I’d do it. If there were three days left, I’d put somebody up hoping that I could get ’em done in three days, OK?”
Of course Mitch McConnell was over the moon about that comment and that’s when they posted the gif of Adam Scott.
https://t.co/XJ5HKKkDep pic.twitter.com/nMpAMAluzm
— Team Mitch (@Team_Mitch) June 25, 2019
This did not bode well for the “Parks & Recreation” actor. Scott was clearly fuming they used this gif of him.
He replied, “Dear Mitch McConnell & all those representing him, Please refrain from using my image in support of anything but your own stunning & humiliating defeat. Thanks! Adam.”
Dear Mitch McConnell & all those representing him,
Please refrain from using my image in support of anything but your own stunning & humiliating defeat.
Thanks!
Adamcc: @senatemajldr @McConnellPress https://t.co/0lfxuKlUiK
— Adam Scott (@mradamscott) June 26, 2019
It’s hard not to address the elephant in the room. Although, yes, this is a reaction gif of the actor from “Parks and Recreation,” this gif is fair game for a multitude of reasons.
If anybody could try to tell anybody not to use their gif it would be NBC and not the actor. Adam Scott doesn’t own the rights to any content from the show; the network does.
Another important distinction/ is they are not selling the gif or making a profit by using his likeness; so it’s fair game in that respect as well. This isn’t like using a popular song from an artist – who can issue a cease and desist to anybody using their original work in a way they don’t like.
Many popular bands have done exactly that to Republican politicians. Specifically, it happened a few years ago when former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan used a Rage Against the Machine song (his favorite band) during one of his campaign rallies and the band was furious.
RATM guitarist actually said, “Paul Ryan is the embodiment of the machine our music rages against.” Rage Against the Machine is a hardcore rock band that meddles in controversial anarchist lyrics.
But a gif of a television show – regardless if the actor in it despises who tweeted it out – is fair game.