Actor Jim Carrey pulled a “he said what?” moment on Twitter this week , condemning his new film Kick Ass 2 for its depictions of violence before the movie has even come out.
In the film, Carrey plays Colonel Stars and Stripes. Judging by the trailer, the character seems to be a hyper-violent, jingoistic, dumb hick stereotype, and might even give the ultra-violent Hit Girl a run for her money regarding overall damage done throughout the film.
Carrey seems to play the role with his usual camp and flair, and it really doesn’t seem that far out of his wheelhouse given his recent, incredibly controversial anti-gun music video , during which he lambasted many of those same stereotypes.
One could argue that his portrayal of Colonel Stars and Stripes follows in that same tongue-in-cheek-yet-political vein, but the actor himself strangely chose to distance himself from the film .
He wrote on Twitter that he worked on Kick Ass 2 “a month b4 Sandy Hook and now in all good conscience (he) cannot support that level of violence.”
Tweeps were quick to criticize and pointed out that Carrey presumably had no qualms collecting a paycheck for the role, but the actor may be facing deeper problems. Fox News notes that his comments may constitute a contract violation .
“It’s rather hypocritical for Jim to take a major paycheck and ‘withdraw’ support for an upcoming film that he appears in. From a brand perspective, one may wonder why he appears in a movie which he is against. This commentary is likely to hurt the film,” said publicist Ronn Torossian, CEO of 5WPR.
“This may lead others in the film business to reconsider casting Carrey. Sometimes silence is golden.”
Most Hollywood contracts include a simple stipulation that those involved can’t say anything negative about a film they are promoting, but another insider pointed out that Carrey isn’t likely to suffer any consequences for the tweet.
“It likely won’t turn into much more than a wrist slap,” said a source.
Still, an insider said that the consequences for Carrey’s actions are more likely to reflect poorly on the actor rather than the film.
“The studio could cut Jim’s scenes from the film entirely and the audience wouldn’t know the difference. I don’t think anyone respects his voice anymore because Hollywood knows his Hollywood stock has dropped tremendously.”
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