Renowned comedic director Judd Apatow admitted in a recent interview that China has effectively “bought” Hollywood’s silence with regards to China’s numerous crimes against humanity, according to the Washington Free Beacon.
Apatow made the remarks in an interview on MSNBC, saying that “instead of us doing business with China and that leading to China becoming more free, what has happened is…China has bought our silence with their money. They have just completely shut down critical content about human-rights abuses in China.”
Apatow, most well-known for comedies such as “Superbad,” “Talladega Nights,” and “Anchorman,” has been one of the very few filmmakers in Hollywood who has been unafraid to criticize China and its Communist government, previously remarking that “it is shameful that no US companies and very few politicians speak up about concentration camps in China.”
China’s influence over the filmmaking industry has come under greater scrutiny in recent weeks, particularly after the release of Disney’s live-action remake of “Mulan.” The film had already faced controversy for its lead actress, Liu Yifei, voicing her support for the Chinese government’s crackdown on the Hong Kong protesters. Most recently, the film came under fire for its end credits thanking a local Chinese bureaucracy that is directly responsible for running a concentration camp for Uighur Muslims.