Stars And Stripes: The Hollywood Celebrities That Have Pivoted To Careers In – Essence
We’re just months away from the Presidential election which means that even the most apolitical of people have their eyes on what’s going down on Capitol Hill.
Celebrities have never been strangers to being politically inclined, and often lend their famous faces to campaign trails, voice radical views on red carpets and align themselves with social justice cause via their vast social media platforms. But there are others that take it a step further attempting to transfer their clout into political victories. Ronald Reagan, for example was an actor before he was elected president. Some may wonder, why do celebs pivot to politics in the first place?
“In politics, name recognition is worth its weight in gold, and for better or worse, celebrities have relatively high name recognition compared to political newcomers,” writes Molly Callahan in a piece for Northeastern University. “As a result of that, voters recognize their names and can use that as a voting cue on a ballot. In addition, they feel like they know something about these individuals because they’ve been in the public spotlight for long periods of time.”
There are also others that genuinely want to make substantive change for underserved communities.
With that, let’s take a look at some Black celebrities that pivoted to politics.
Hill Harper
Starting out as an attorney then actor, Harper has since become a best-selling author and most recently announced his run for the U.S. Senate.
Killer Mike
In 2015, Killer Mike, an internationally-known rapper-turned activist announced his candidacy for political office in Georgia’s 55th District. Not long after though, he shared he couldn’t complete the run due to not completing the required documentation.
Scarface
The legendary Geto Boys founding member, Scarface née Brad Jordan, activated his love for civic justice by running for a seat on Houston’s City Council in 2019. Although he ultimately lost, Jordan came extremely close losing by a margin to Carolyn Evans-Shabazz.
Stacey Dash
The actress and video vixen laid ground for a congressional run for California’s 44th district in 2018. However, she withdrew from the race a month later.
Wyclef Jean
A founding member of the group Fugees and entrepreneur, Jean made a shift in 2010 when he tried to run for President of Haiti in that year’s election. The campaign, however, was cut short when he disqualified by the Haitian electoral officials.
