If your TV station is discreetly pushing President Donald Trump's agenda, Amy Schumer doesn't want to talk to them.
The actress, who's currently promoting her new comedy "I Feel Pretty," just reportedly canceled an interview with Washington D.C.-based WJLA, an ABC affiliate, BuzzFeed News learned.
The station is owned by conservative Sinclair Broadcasting Group, which is facing intense backlash after it forced local news anchors across the country to read from a script blasting the "false news" coming from other media sources.
Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images.
Many, including revered journalist Dan Rather, saw the script-reading as a blatant attempt to push Trump's narrative that too many news outlets are biased against the president and cannot be trusted.
"News anchors looking into camera and reading a script handed down by a corporate overlord, words meant to obscure the truth not elucidate it, isn't journalism," Rather wrote in a viral tweet on April 2. "It's propaganda."
News anchors looking into camera and reading a script handed down by a corporate overlord, words meant to obscure t… https://t.co/Z7HB6evFpo— Dan Rather (@Dan Rather) 1522698879
Sinclair's executive chairman, David Smith, has a cozy relationship with the president.
In 2016, White House senior adviser Jared Kushner told business executives the Trump campaign struck a deal with the broadcasting company to push more favorable news for the then-candidate, Politico reported.
It appears Sinclair — the largest broadcast news company in the U.S., owning or operating nearly 200 stations — is the one with the bias problem.
Here's an eerie video made by Deadspin that curated several local news segments featuring anchors reading from the pro-Trump script:
Clearly, the video made an impression on Schumer.
The comedian retweeted Jimmy Kimmel, who, on March 31, blasted the frightening script-reading mash-up as "dangerous to our democracy."
[rebelmouse-image 19345855 dam="1" original_size="750x235" caption="Image via Amy Schumer/Twitter." expand=1]Image via Amy Schumer/Twitter.
A source familiar with the matter told BuzzFeed News that Schumer hopes to never have to work with a Sinclair-owned station again.
As some have wondered, will other public figures follow suit?