What was meant to be a fun and shocking moment at the 96th Oscars was actually an incredibly regulated, rehearsed endeavor that went through a stringent approval process.
Actor and professional wrestler John Cena mimicked a 1974 nude streaker from the 46th Oscars by seemingly appearing nude onstage to present an award for best costume. In reality, the stunt was a perfect microcosm of Hollywood's decline; an injection of forced comedy that is as regulated as it is unnecessary.
For all intents and purposes, Cena's nudity was a carefully crafted, legally sound "comedy" bit that received input from Disney executives and standards and practices lawyers. One of those executives was Rob Mills, Walt Disney Television's executive vice president of Unscripted and Alternative Entertainment. Ironically, Mills' job was to ensure that Cena's faux-nude appearance was not unscripted at all.
"There was a lot of reticence of not just a fine from the FCC, but potential complaints," Mills told Variety. Disney's legal team made it clear that it had to be obvious that Cena wasn't naked.
In a joking attempt to "educate," Mills noted that "a bulge cannot be showing, and you can’t show crack." However, the Disney executive jumped through hoops and even put fail-safes in place to make sure the bit made it to air.
"'What happens if he drops that card?' So, we made sure that, for all intents and purposes, he looked like a Ken doll up front. His crack was covered in the back and then the envelope was Velcro-ed on there so it wouldn’t fall. But beyond that, he was naked."
John Cena just walked on stage at the Oscar\u2019s NAKED \ud83d\ude33\n\nThe degradation of men continues. \n\nWeak men. Hard times.— (@)
The bit was rehearsed on a closed set before network representatives battled with what was acceptable with the standards and practices department.
"They were sweating," said Oscars producer Molly McNearney. "I think at the end we all got to a spot where we were comfortable, S&P was comfortable, and it didn’t compromise the comedy a bit. I was very thankful that we didn’t have to send him out there in tighty whities, which I’m sure legal would have preferred."
McNearney added that she wanted for audiences to debate whether or not Cena was nude. "Maybe it’s not what [S&P] wanted. That’s definitely what I want!"
It is indeed strange how highly regulated a comedy bit about a 250-pound athlete pretending to appear nude is under Disney's watch, given their celebration of leftist ideology that is both incredibly obscure and sexual in nature.
The Oscars even celebrated Emma Stone's performance in "Poor Things," a movie about an infant-minded female Frankenstein monster who discovers her freedom through worldly sexual escapades. Her travels are described in one scene by the character as "whoring."
Stone described her character as an "acceptance of what it is to be a woman: to be free, to be scared and brave." The film, by Disney studio Searchlight Pictures, took home four Oscars in total.
Interestingly, Oscars producer McNearney is also an executive producer for "Jimmy Kimmel Live"; Kimmel also hosted the Oscars. Neither is a stranger to the type of performance put on by Cena, either. In late 2022, actor Jason Momoa stripped down to a "traditional Hawaiian Malo," sharing his bare backside with Kimmel's studio audience.
Overly prepared "comedy" involving nearly nude male actors certainly adds to an ever-growing belief viewers have that masculinity and heterosexuality are targeted by mainstream media for humiliation.
It doesn't help Hollywood's cause in this argument when segments such as those mentioned receive hours of scrutiny, while at the same time corporations like Disney openly admit to wanting to inject LGBT content into their productions.
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The children and families who reach out to the Make-A-Wish Foundation should know they have a friend in John Cena.
The professional wrestler turned Hollywood A-lister recently granted his 650th MAWF wish, Guinness World Records confirmed back in July, which is more than three times as many wishes as any other individual. He is also the only person with more than 200.
Make-A-Wish, a nonprofit organization which connects children ages 2 to 18 suffering from a critical illness with the celebrity, event experience, or gift opportunity of their choice. The original inspiration for Make-A-Wish, Chris Greicius, got to be a police officer for a day in Phoenix back in 1980. Sadly, Chris, who was just 7 years old, died of leukemia shortly thereafter, wearing his police uniform and badge, but his family could always treasure the memory of his special day in the sun. Make-A-Wish has been working hard to grant similar requests ever since.
And Cena, who first became involved with the organization in 2002, could not be more enthusiastic about its mission.
"If you ever need me for this ever," Cena pledged to the organization back in 2015, "I don’t care what I’m doing. I will drop what I’m doing and be involved because I think that’s the coolest thing."
And the MAWF kids must think Cena is pretty cool as well. MAWF claims that Cena is the most requested celebrity, and his popularity means that he has been involved in some of the organization's milestones as well. For example, he granted its 1,000th wish back in 2012.
So Cena, 45, has made himself one of the faces of the organization. But before that, he made quite a name for himself in the professional wrestling world. He has won 13 World Wrestling Entertainment championships since 1999 and has since transitioned that fame into a career in acting. He has starred in several feature films, including "The Marine," "Daddy's Home," and "Trainwreck." Though Cena was heavily criticized in 2021 after he issued a video in which he apologized in Chinese for referring to Taiwan as a country, he has otherwise been well-received in the industry.
Cena also spearheads WWE's anti-bullying campaign called "Be a Star."
"If I can offer a fantastic experience," Cena once said, "I’ll be first in line to do my part."
It's unclear when he is next scheduled to help grant a child's wish.
Bill Maher did not hold back in his recent rant targeting athletes and entertainers who have kowtowed to China. The "Real Time with Bill Maher" host blasted LeBron James, Eileen Gu, and John Cena for allegedly putting profits over principles when it comes to speaking out against China's human rights abuses.
Maher highlighted American-born freestyle skier Eileen Gu who decided to compete in the 2022 Winter Olympics for her mother's home country of China. Gu, 18, has reportedly pocketed at least $31 million from sponsorship deals with more than 20 deals with Chinese companies, including the Bank of China.
Maher accused Gu of choosing to "represent a totalitarian police state over America."
"The Olympics pretends to only be about sports but of course, the games have always been a bit of a proxy war for which country has the best system," Maher said on Friday night's episode. "And by choosing Team China, Eileen Gu became a living symbol of China's triumph over the West, which wouldn't bother me so much if I thought China had triumphed over us in the ways that really matter. But they haven't."
Maher admitted that the United States has some human rights issues, but explains that the U.S. is a "democracy based on freedom" compared to China, which he described as an "authoritarian surveillance state based on 'How would you like to disappear for a few months?'"
The HBO talk show host spotlighted the situation involving Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai who previously accused Chinese Communist Party member Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault. Shuai went missing after making the accusations.
"Like that tennis player [Peng Shuai] who recently vanished for a while when she said she had been raped by a government official," Maher continued. "We do still throw too many black people in jail, but perspective matters."
"China has basically jailed an entire ethnic minority, the Uyghurs, a situation that both the Trump and Biden administrations have called a genocide," he noted. "America is not close to that. And it's a cynical dodge to pretend China's sins should be overlooked because we all do it. No."
Maher recalled when Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey said he stood with the pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong. In 2019, LeBron James said Morey was "misinformed" about calling for democracy in Hong Kong. James reportedly questioned NBA Commissioner Adam Silver as to why Morey wasn't punished for his support of pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong, which damaged the league's relationship with China.
"In America, we're supposed to root for democratic government, not apologize for it," Maher declared. "But the NBA has a television deal with China worth a billion-and-a-half dollars. So LeBron James said Morey needed to be ‘educated on the situation,' the situation being, 'I've got some shoes to sell.'"
Maher slammed Google for enacting censorship in order to access the Chinese market.
"'Kowtow' is a Chinese word but boy, Americans have gotten good at it," Maher claimed.
"That's the deal China offers American companies and celebrities: 'We'll give you access to our billion-plus consumers as long as you shut up about the whole police-state-genocide thing.' John Cena took that deal."
"China accounts for 34% of global box office and he's a movie star now," Maher said of Cena. "So, like the Uyghurs, last year, he learned he needed to get some re-education. You see, John referred to Taiwan as a country as if [it] were a separate country from China, which it is! But China would like to do Taiwan what it did to Tibet and what it's doing now to Hong Kong."
Cena – the wrestling star-turned actor – issued a video apology in 2021 to the Chinese government for referring to Taiwan as a "country."
"When a country can make your big muscly macho man action star grovel in their language, you know you're somebody's b*tch," Maher joked.
Maher remembered how the trailer for the "Top Gun: Maverick" movie deleted the Taiwan flag from the bomber jacket of Tom Cruise's character Pete "Maverick" Mitchell. CNN reported, "Several Twitter users quickly pointed out that Chinese tech giant Tencent is one of Paramount's partners on the movie, which is slated to release next summer."
Maher continued, "The definition of 'woke' was supposed to be being alert to injustice in society. But because the 'woke' now see race first and everything else never, fear of being accused of racism has given a free pass on human rights abuses to China and any other places that are perceived as non-white. If China was in Europe, would they get away with having concentration camps without more of an outcry from America?"
"Someone has to tell me where we got this rule that you can't criticize China because I suspect we got it from China. Because after all, it's where we get everything else," Maher concluded.
(WARNING: Explicit language)
New Rule: Stop Kowtowing to China | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO) www.youtube.com
The “Genocide Olympics,” according to Steven Crowder, could be a clue about how much China controls the world. Steven recaps what’s happened and why it should terrify you. Then, Joe Biden announced he’s coming for your handguns. And special guest Sen. Ted Cruz joins the show to discuss his investigation into GoFundMe.
To enjoy more of Steven’s uncensored late-night comedy that’s actually funny, join Mug Club — the only place for all of Crowder uncensored and on demand.
Actor John Cena's embarrassing capitulation to communist China last week did not produce the outcome that Hollywood executives had hoped.
Cena, of course, posted a video to Sena Wiebo, China's Twitter-like social media platform, apologizing to Chinese fans for calling Taiwan a "country" in a recent interview promoting "F9," the latest installment of the "Fast & Furious" franchise. The mea culpa was delivered in Mandarin, the official language of China.
Who prompted Cena to apologize is not clear, whether his own instincts or the demands of Hollywood executives who depend on Chinese ticket sales. However, the former WWE star, whose foray into the movie industry has been successful thus far, was immediately rebuked by Americans for, as it appeared, bowing down to China.
Disputed claims over Taiwan stem from the Chinese civil war in the last century, which was ultimately a fight between communism and democracy. China maintains its claims over Taiwan, yet the island is self-governed and has declared its own sovereignty.
Despite Cena's apology, ticket sales for "F9" plummeted in China following his Chinese nationalist faux pas, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
In fact, the movie generated $136 million in China during the opening weekend, but earned only $20.8 this past weekend, the second weekend the movie was played in Chinese theaters. That's a massive 85% decrease in ticket revenue.
And, despite the successful opening weekend, "F9" is now predicted to earn slightly more than just half of the two preceding "Fast & Furious" movies in China.
From the Hollywood Reporter:
After two laps, the Vin Diesel/John Cena action flick has totaled $185.3 million. That's slightly ahead of where franchise spinoff Hobbs & Shaw was sitting at a similar point in its China run, but far weaker than the preceding franchise mainstays Furious 7 and The Fate of the Furious, which topped out at $390.9 million in 2015 and $392.8 million in 2017, respectively.
Chinese ticketing app Maoyan currently projects F9 to finish at $211.9 million — certainly not a number to slouch at but far inferior to the franchise's recent heights, especially since China's theatrical market is back to full earning capacity (See the $825 million earned by local comedy hit Hi, Mom in February).
Reaction from Chinese fans to Cena's apology almost foreshadowed the hard crash in ticket sales.
"Please say in Chinese, 'Taiwan is part of China,' otherwise we won't accept [your apology]," the top comment on the video said, Newsweek reported.
"Then at least say Taiwan is China's. You're avoiding the issue and talking nonsense. You can't benefit from [the Chinese market] and trash it at the same time," another critic said.
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