Sunday, December 8, 2024

Supreme Court Overturns Abortion: Will Movie, Music, Theater Biz Shun Offending States?

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The Supreme Court as expected has overturned Roe v. Wade. We knew it was coming, and it’s horrifying. Trump’s legacy is not only the criminal — with January 6th — but also to send the country back 50 years. It’s a frightening time.

Now possibly 25 states will enforce their “trigger” laws and ban abortion. Those states include Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.

The question now is, will movie productions still shoot in those states? Will music artists tour there? Will national tours of Broadway shows do business in those states?

It’s hard to imagine actors and musicians doing business in states that have banned abortion. Some of those states mentioned above don’t matter, anyway. But Tennessee includes Nashville and Memphis. Texas means Austin as well as Dallas and Houston. Louisiana is a prime state for filming because of tax breaks. So it will be instructive to see what the reaction is: will our artists allow their money to flow into such objectionable states?

Stay tuned…

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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