A new report from market research firm Morning Consult — which polled more than 6,500 US adults about their opinions of celebrities on the Forbes 100 list of the world’s highest-paid entertainers — shows that Beyoncé Knowles, Sean Hannity, and LeBron James are among the most politically divisive celebrities in America.
“Vocal black celebrities, advocates for the LGBT community and white conservative pundits,” were the most polarizing entertainers, wrote Morning Consult’s Joanna Piacenza. People of color made up a large portion of the list, such as The Weeknd, Jay-Z, Nas, and Dave Chappelle.
Beyoncé ranks first with a 66 percent difference in net perception between Democrats and Republicans, with Dems generally more in favor of her compared to Republicans. She’s followed by Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh, who are more popular among Republicans.
Overall, Democrats tended to have higher opinions of the celebrities on the Forbes 100 list than Republicans. “This could be tied to the fact that Americans perceive Hollywood as more liberal compared to the country as a whole,” Piacenza wrote.
The so-called “A” list celebrities are all wanting tixs to the inauguration, but look what they did for Hillary, NOTHING. I want the PEOPLE!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2016
The most popular figures included Dwayne Johnson, Will Smith and Jackie Chan, who Piacenza pointed out are “all racial minorities who have largely refrained from using their platform to make political statements,” whereas Beyoncé has done things like endorse Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election and James has called President Trump a “bum” and said he’s dividing the country.
Other celebrities who are well-loved included Paul McCartney, Adam Sandler, J.K. Rowling, and Robert Downey Jr. Morning Consult also revealed a list of the “most valuable celebrity endorsements,” which shows Americans are most likely to use a product or service endorsed by not only the celebrities who topped the popularity list, but also stars like Chris Hemsworth and Jennifer Lopez.