Pope Leo XIV’s brother reacts to his historic election — makes prediction about his papacy

The brother of the newly elected Pope Leo XIV, who made history by becoming the first American pontiff, shared his “overwhelming” reaction to the news on Thursday.

John Prevost told FOX 32 that “there are no words” to describe how proud he was of his baby brother. 

“It’s overwhelming pride, but it’s also an overwhelming responsibility, being the first American Pope from Chicago – and a relative. Frightening,” Prevost said. 

Prevost said his brother’s path to pope began at a young age, having gone straight into seminary after eighth grade.

FIRST AMERICAN ELECTED PONTIFF, GET TO KNOW POPE LEO XIV

“So, the whole high school years, college years, we didn’t really know him other than the summer vacation,” he said.

PELOSI SAYS CATHOLIC CHURCH COULD HAVE FEMALE PRIESTS IN HER GRANDCHILDREN’S LIFETIME

Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Prevost, was a suspected frontrunner to succeed Pope Francis after his passing late last month. Prevost said he had an “inkling” his brother was in the running after hearing his description on the radio. 

“They were interviewing someone on the radio, and she said there are two likely candidates: One of the Cardinals from the Philippines, and one is a Cardinal, as a matter of fact, from the Chicago area. He was a missionary in Peru and now he’s a Cardinal in Rome,” Prevost said. 

But the inkling that big things were in store for the now pope even went back decades earlier. According to Prevost, the boys’ childhood neighbors predicted the younger Prevost would be the “first American pope.”

“The interesting thing is way back when he was in kindergarten or first grade, there was a parent, a mom, across the street — one across the street that way and another down the street,” John Prevost, told WGN on Thursday. “Both of them said he would be the first American Pope, at that age.”

Prevost predicts that his brother will likely be “a second Pope Francis.” 

“I think he has a strong inclination to help the poor, the disenfranchised, the people that don’t have a voice because he spent so much time in Peru with the people who were impoverished,” Prevost said. “So, I think she sees that need and I think he will work for that. The church has to be universal and help everyone but some people need a lot more help … I don’t think he can do anything, but I think immigration is big time on his mind. He thinks the country’s headed in the wrong direction there.” 

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Prevost said his brother will have to work hard to reunite the Catholic Church, given that “so many people have gone away” in recent years.

Wild brawls break out as pro-Hamas agitators overrun another NYC college campus

Chaos and wild brawls broke out at a New York City university on Thursday evening after anti-Israel activists tried setting up an encampment on college grounds.

New York Police Department (NYPD) officers were dispatched to Brooklyn College after anti-Israel agitators refused to take down their tents. Fourteen people were taken into custody, police told Fox News Friday.

Videos show activists, many of whom were wearing keffiyehs, yelling and swearing as police officers attempted to get the unruly crowd under control.

“Stop shoving people! Stop f–king shoving people!” one female protester yelled.

“Get the f–k out! Get the f–k out!” another screamed.

DOZENS OF ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS ARRESTED AFTER STORMING, TAKING OVER COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARY DURING FINALS 

In an emotionally charged portion of the video, police pulled back a man’s shirt and tased him as he screamed. 

An officer urged a woman to take her child away from the scene.

“Get that baby out of here now!” a cop warned the phone-wielding woman. “Get that baby out of here!”

Another clip shows police officers restraining protesters on the ground as demonstrators scream and attempt to intervene.

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LAYS OFF AROUND 180 STAFF AFTER TRUMP ADMINISTRATION REVOKES GRANTS

“The cops are out of control,” a woman is heard saying.

Brooklyn College told Fox News that the protesters “erected tents on the Brooklyn College quad in violation of college policy.”

“After multiple warnings to take the tents down and disperse, members of CUNY Public Safety and NYPD removed the tents and dispersed the crowd,” the statement added.

“The safety of our campus community will always be paramount, and Brooklyn College respects the right to protest while also adhering to strict rules meant to ensure the safe operation of our University and prohibit individuals from impeding access to educational facilities.”

The chaos comes a day after over 100 anti-Israel agitators stormed the Butler Library at Columbia University. The chaos erupting as students were trying to study for finals.

In total, the NYPD made 80 arrests at the prestigious college, a source told Fox News.

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Hegseth hits back at West Point professor who resigned over Trump admin

A West Point professor’s resignation over education shifts brought, in part, by the Trump administration, drew a scathing comment from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. 

West Point philosophy professor Graham Parsons announced his resignation Thursday, following a 13-year tenure with the academy. Hegseth quickly took to social media, voicing his opinion after the departure.

“You will not be missed Professor Parsons,” Hegseth wrote in response to Parsons’ resignation.

In a New York Times op-ed, Parson said he is departing as the academy is rapidly shifting from its educational principles, in part due to the Trump administration.

TRUMP TELLS HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR OF WEST POINT ACCEPTANCE DURING JOINT ADDRESS TO CONGRESS

“I will be resigning after this semester from my tenured position at West Point after 13 years on the faculty,” said Parsons. “I cannot tolerate these changes, which prevent me from doing my job responsibly. I am ashamed to be associated with the academy in its current form.”

He added: “In a matter of days, the United States Military Academy at West Point abandoned its core principles. Once a school that strove to give cadets the broad-based, critical-minded, nonpartisan education they need for careers as Army officers, it was suddenly eliminating courses, modifying syllabuses and censoring arguments to comport with the ideological tastes of the Trump administration.”

Parsons’ disdain correlates to President Donald Trump and Hegseth’s recent executive order and memos prohibiting what faculty members may teach at United States military educational institutions.

WEST POINT MILITARY ACADEMY DROPS ‘DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY’ FROM MISSION STATEMENT

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In his op-ed, he claimed the results have yielded “a sweeping assault on the school’s curriculum and the faculty members’ research.”

Upon his departure from the academy, his landing page on the West Point website was removed.

Biden stumbles over key fact about 2024 election after he dropped out of the race

Former President Joe Biden appeared Thursday to misstate how long then-Vice President Kamala Harris had to try to win the race after he stepped down, suggesting on “The View” she had “six months” when she had less than four.

“Some have even argued that leaving the race and endorsing your vice president, Vice President Harris, over a hundred days before the election hampered her campaign. What do you say to those critics?” “View” co-host Sunny Hostin asked him.

Biden appeared to misremember the number of months Harris had to win the election between when he relinquished the nomination on July 21 and election day on November 5, or perhaps did not understand the question, instead stating the number of months that were left in his term that ended on January 20.

BIDEN TELLS ‘THE VIEW’ HE WASN’T SURPRISED HARRIS LOST, BLAMES SEXISM AND RACISM

“I say, number one, that there were still six full months,” he said. “She was in every aspect, every decision I made. Every decision we made. And I don’t think, I hope I didn’t sound the wrong way. I don’t think anybody thought we’d be successful as we were. I don’t think anybody thought we’d pass the Recovery Act. I don’t think anyone thought we’d have – we’d deal with the [CHIPS and Science Act]. I don’t think anybody thinks we’d have all we got done in a close race, think about it.”

He went on to claim, “We got more major legislation passed to fundamentally change the direction of the country than any president has in a long, long time. 

And so, we’re in a situation where we came into office, and we agreed on two things. One, I was sick and tired of trickle-down economics. And my dad used to say, ‘Not a whole lot trickled down in his kitchen table,’ and so we built the economy from the middle out and the bottom up.”

Biden also said Trump had just gone through the worst 100 days any president has ever had.

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At another point during his appearance on “The View,” Biden touted his work for the six months after he dropped out of the race, saying he’d done a “pretty good job.”

“The strongest economy in the world we left. That’s not hyperbole, that’s a fact,” Biden said. “We created more jobs in one term than any president has in American history. And so my point is that we had a very successful effort to change the direction of the country and we did, and she was every single part of that.”

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President Trump taps FOX News’ Judge Jeanine Pirro for position in DC

President Donald Trump has tapped “The Five” co-host Judge Jeanine Pirro to be the interim U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C.

“I am pleased to announce that Judge Jeanine Pirro will be appointed interim United States Attorney for the District of Columbia,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social on Thursday. “Jeanine is incredibly well qualified for this position, and is considered one of the Top District Attorneys in the History of the State of New York. She is in a class by herself. Congratulations Jeanine!”

Pirro has left Fox News Channel and a rotation of Fox News personalities will fill her seat on “The Five” until a new co-host is named. 

“Jeanine Pirro has been a wonderful addition to The Five over the last three years and a longtime beloved host across FOX News Media who contributed greatly to our success throughout her 14-year tenure. We wish her all the best in her new role in Washington,” a spokesperson for FOX News Media said in a statement. 

TRUMP PULLS HIS NOMINATION FOR DC US ATTORNEY, SAYS HE’LL REVEAL NEW PICK SOON

Pirro served as the assistant district attorney and district attorney in New York’s Westchester County and became the first woman to service as a judge in Westchester County Court. 

She joined Fox News Channel in 2006 and hosted “Justice with Judge Jeanine” for 11 years before joining “The Five,” which has emerged as the most-watched show on cable news. 

FOX NEWS CHANNEL FINISHES HIGHEST-RATED FIRST 100 DAYS IN CABLE NEWS HISTORY WITH DOMINANT APRIL

Trump also announced on Truth Social that Ed Martin, who was the previous interim U.S. attorney in D.C., will be moving to the Department of Justice as its “Director of the Weaponization Working Group, Associate Deputy Attorney General, and Pardon Attorney.”

“In these highly important roles, Ed will make sure we finally investigate the Weaponization of our Government under the Biden Regime, and provide much needed Justice for its victims. Congratulations Ed!” Trump wrote. 

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Trump pulled Martin’s nomination for U.S. attorney in D.C. following resistance on Capitol Hill signaling he did not have the votes to be confirmed. 

“He wasn’t getting the support from people that I thought,” Trump told reporters at the White House earlier in the day. “You know, he’s done a very good job. Crime is down 25% in DC during this period of time… I can only lift that little phone so many times of the day. But we have somebody else.”

Trump’s decision to replace Martin came amid a May 20 deadline to confirm the former defense attorney and “Stop the Steal” organizer. That’s because if the Senate fails to confirm a U.S. attorney nominee within 120 days, federal district court judges may select an interim U.S. attorney, according to the Department of Justice. 

State trooper blows hole in prosecutors’ theory on how Karen Read’s boyfriend died

A Massachusetts State Police sergeant who played a key role in the investigation that led to Karen Read’s original mistrial on murder charges testified Thursday that, early on, he told other authorities that John O’Keefe may have been hit in the face with a bar glass, causing injuries to his face and head.

Investigators, however, ultimately alleged that Read struck her Boston cop boyfriend with the back of her Lexus SUV and fled the scene, leaving him to die in the cold, on Jan. 29, 2022. Police arrested her on hit-and-run manslaughter charges days after she found him dead outside 34 Fairview Road in Canton, Massachusetts, and prosecutors secured an indictment for second-degree murder months later. 

Defense lawyer Alan Jackson got State Police Sgt. Yuri Bukhenik to concede on Thursday that he called the medical examiner’s office and said there was a possibility that O’Keefe could have been hit in the face with a cocktail glass.

KAREN READ’S GOOGLE TIMELINE DERAILED AGAIN AS 2ND EXPERT DISPUTES DEFENSE CLAIMS

“At 10:41 a.m., you called the medical examiner’s office to inform them that Mr. O’Keefe quote, was struck in the face with a cocktail glass, or at least appeared to be, correct?” Jackson asked.

“That is in part what I advised the medical examiner’s office,” Bukhenik began. “Where they are, responsible for the medical portion of…”

Jackson cut him off, objecting during his own line of questioning. After a brief sidebar, Judge Beverly Cannone told the witness to do his “best” to answer the questions he was asked.

KAREN READ’S VOICEMAILS TO JOHN O’KEEFE PLAYED IN MURDER TRIAL: ‘I F—ING HATE YOU’

WATCH: Alan Jackson cross-examines Massachusetts State Police Sgt Yuri Bukhenik 

“Did you contact the medical examiner’s office at in (sic) the morning of … January 29th, 2022?” Jackson asked.

“Yes,” Bukhenik replied.

“And did you state to them that there was a possibility that the decedent, John O’Keefe, was struck in the face with a cocktail glass?”

KAREN READ TRIAL: CANTON COP EXPLAINS USING LEAF BLOWER, RED SOLO CUPS, STOP & SHOP BAG FOR EVIDENCE

“I don’t recall my words exactly, but that sounds accurate to what I might have said,” the sergeant replied.

Jackson pressed him about what he did to secure the house, a potential crime scene.

Nothing.

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Jackson also asked if key witnesses, such as fellow Boston Police Officer Brian Albert, his sister-in-law, Jennifer McCabe, and her husband, Matt McCabe, could have lied from the start about whether O’Keefe entered Albert’s home at 34 Fairview Road hours before he was found dead on the front lawn.

Of those three, only Jennifer McCabe has testified as of Thursday in Read’s second trial. She told jurors she saw Read’s vehicle outside the house shortly after midnight but never saw either Read or O’Keefe come inside.

Outside court Thursday, where she was not speaking under oath, Read told reporters in plain words that she saw him go inside.

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“I saw him go in the house,” she said.

When she was asked if she could describe the “how and when,” she said no but said she has in the past and believes special prosecutor Hank Brennan may play a clip at trial.

Investigators recovered a broken glass and black straw separately from the scene, as was O’Keefe’s missing sneaker, evidence that Bukhenik said supported investigators’ ultimate theory that the victim had been struck by a motor vehicle.

Brennan, on direct examination, asked Bukhenik if there was a phrase about that in law enforcement circles.

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“Knocked out of your shoes,” Bukhenik said.

Another component to that theory was Read’s broken taillight. Brennan played Ring camera video taken from O’Keefe’s driveway that showed the light was cracked when she left his house around 5 a.m. on Jan. 29, 2022.

Bukhenik said he questioned Read about the broken taillight later that morning and quoted her as saying, “I don’t know how I did it last night.”

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O’Keefe had significant injuries to his face and head as well as cuts on his right arm by the time Bukhenik saw him at Good Samaritan hospital, he said.

Bukhenik, who moved to the U.S. from Ukraine when he was 9 and joined the Marine Corps after 9/11, is expected to return to the witness stand Friday morning when court resumes at 9 a.m. ET.

CBS’ parent company facing pressure from its stars, Dem lawmakers over Trump lawsuit

Pressure is mounting on Paramount Global from both the inside and outside as it considers settling a high-stakes lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump.

Lawyers for Trump and Paramount entered mediation last week, signaling the company’s potential willingness to resolve the whopping $20 billion suit filed by Trump accusing CBS News of election interference over its handling of the “60 Minutes” interview last year with then-Vice President Kamala Harris. 

That interview, which was part of a primetime election special that also featured her Democratic running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, earned an Emmy nomination last week for Outstanding Edited Interview. Trump slammed the “totally discredited” Emmys on Truth Social in response.

CBS SHOULDN’T CELEBRATE EMMY NOM FOR HARRIS INTERVIEW THAT IGNITED NETWORK TURMOIL, INDUSTRY INSIDER SAYS

A group of Democratic lawmakers, including Senators Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., made a direct plea to Shari Redstone, Paramount’s controlling shareholder, to not settle the lawsuit, saying it would be a “grave mistake.”

“Rewarding Trump with tens of millions of dollars for filing this bogus lawsuit will not cause him to back down on his war against the media and a free press,” Sanders and the Democrats wrote to Redstone on Tuesday. “It will only embolden him to shakedown, extort and silence CBS and other media outlets that have the courage to report about issues that Trump may not like.”

CBS NEWS IN CHAOS SINCE DEPARTURE OF ‘60 MINUTES’ PRODUCER, WAITING FOR THE NEXT SHOE TO DROP, INSIDER SAYS

Their message may fall on deaf ears as it was previously reported that Redstone was in favor of settling the lawsuit in hopes of paving the way for Paramount’s planned merger with Skydance Media and preventing potential retribution by Trump’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which has the authority to halt the multibillion-dollar transaction. 

Redstone not only wanted to reportedly “keep tabs” on upcoming “60 Minutes” segments involving Trump, she reportedly urged CBS execs to delay any sensitive reporting on Trump until after the merger deal closed with Skydance. That led to the abrupt resignation of “60 Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens, who cited his inability to maintain editorial independence. 

On the contrary, “60 Minutes” aired a highly critical report last Sunday about Trump’s executive order targeting Democratic law firms who’ve attacked him, the show’s staff essentially thumbing their noses at the corporate honcho. 

“Get out of our way and let us keep working how we have been for decades,” one CBS News staffer previously told Fox News Digital.

Journalists on “60 Minutes” as well as “CBS Evening News” directly linked Paramount’s effort to settle Trump’s lawsuit to the company’s merger plans while giving an on-air salute to Owens. 

‘60 MINUTES’ CALLS OUT CORPORATE OWNER PARAMOUNT ON THE AIR, SAYS PRODUCER WHO QUIT FELT INTERFERED WITH

But it’s no longer just stars from CBS’ news division speaking out. “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert called out his corporate bosses Tuesday night in an exchange with his guest, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. 

“There are reports that the owner of this company called the president – or called the chairman of this company – and said, ‘Yeah, you’ve got to get the news to lay off any bad Trump stories.’ And the word is that that was not passed on to the news division, I’m happy to say,” the CBS star told Maddow.

Liberal critics in the media have lamented the precedent it would set if Paramount settled the lawsuit, which many legal experts have suggested was frivolous, including Georgetown Law Professor and Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley, who said he was “unconvinced” by the lawsuit after previously expressing certainty any lawsuit filed over the Harris interview would fail in court. 

However, Trump has had a string of settlement victories in recent months with ABC News, X and Meta from other legal battles waged by the now-president.

The CBS lawsuit stems from the editing of an exchange Harris had with “60 Minutes” correspondent Bill Whitaker, who asked her why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wasn’t “listening” to the Biden administration.

Harris was widely mocked for the “word salad” answer that aired in a preview clip of the interview on “Face the Nation.” However, when the same question aired during the primetime special, Harris had a different, more concise response. Critics at the time accused CBS News of editing Harris’ “word salad” answer to shield the then-vice president from further backlash leading up to Election Day. 

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Earlier this year, FCC Chair Brendan Carr ordered CBS News to hand over the unedited transcript of the interview as part of its investigation into whether the network violated the FCC’s “news distortion” policy after a complaint was filed. CBS had refused to release the unedited transcript when the controversy first began. 

The released raw transcript and footage showed that both sets of Harris’ comments came from the same response, but CBS News had aired only the first half of her response in the “Face the Nation” preview clip and aired the second half during the primetime special. 

A look at who took home top honors at the 2025 ACM Awards

Country music’s biggest night has arrived.

The industry’s brightest stars, including Lainey Wilson, Reba McEntire and more, gathered at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, to find out who is taking home the night’s biggest honors.

Here is the complete winner’s list for the 2025 ACM Awards.

2025 ACM AWARDS: LAINEY WILSON, NICOLE KIDMAN, KELSEA BALLERINI STUN ON RED CARPET

Entertainer of the year

1. Lainey Wilson
2. Chris Stapleton
3. Cody Johnson
4. Jelly Roll
5. Kelsea Ballerini
6. Luke Combs
7. Morgan Wallen

Music event of the year

1. “You Look Like You Love Me,” Ella Langley and Riley Green
2. “Cowboys Cry Too,” Kelsea Ballerini and Noah Kahan
3. “I Had Some Help,” Post Malone and Morgan Wallen
4. “I’m Gonna Love You,” Carrie Underwood and Cody Johnson
5. “We Don’t Fight Anymore,” Carly Pearce and Chris Stapleton

Album of the year

1. “Whirlwind,” Lainey Wilson
2. “Am I Okay? (I’ll Be Fine),” Megan Moroney
3. “Beautifully Broken,” Jelly Roll
4. “Cold Beer and Country Music,” Zach Top
5. “F-1 Trillion,” Post Malone

Female artist of the year

1. Lainey Wilson
2. Ella Langley
3. Kacey Musgraves
4. Kelsea Ballerini
5. Megan Moroney

Single of the year

1. “You Look Like You Love Me,” Ella Langley and Riley Green
2. “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” Shaboozey
3. “Dirt Cheap,” Cody Johnson
4. “I Had Some Help,” Post Malone and Morgan Wallen
5. “White Horse,” Chris Stapleton

Duo of the year

1. Brooks & Dunn
2. Brothers Osborne
3. Dan + Shay
4. Muscadine Bloodline
5. The War and Treaty

Male artist of the year

1. Chris Stapleton
2. Cody Johnson
3. Luke Combs
4. Morgan Wallen
5. Jelly Roll

Group of the year

1. Old Dominion
2. Flatland Cavalry
3. Little Big Town
4. Rascal Flatts
5. The Red Clay Strays

Song of the year

1. “Dirt Cheap,” Cody Johnson
2. “4X4XU,” Lainey Wilson
3. “I Had Some Help,” Post Malone and Morgan Wallen
4. “The Architect,” Kacey Musgraves
5. “You Look Like You Love Me,” Ella Langley and Riley Green

New female artist of the year

1. Ella Langley
2. Ashley Cooke
3. Dasha
4. Jessie Murph
5. Kassi Ashton

New male artist of the year

1. Zach Top
2. Bailey Zimmerman
3. Gavin Adcock
4. Shaboozey
5. Tucker Wetmore

New duo or group of the year

1. The Red Clay Strays
2. Resless Road
3. Treaty Oak Revival

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Visual media of the year

1. “You Look Like You Love Me,” Ella Langley and Riley Green
2. “4X4XU,” Lainey Wilson
3. “Dirt Cheap,” Cody Johnson
4. “I’m Gonna Love You,” Carrie Underwood and Cody Johnson
5. “Think I’m In Love With You,” Chris Stapleton

Songwriter of the year

1. Jessie Jo Dillon
2. Ashley Gorley
3. Chase McGill
4. Jessi Alexander
5. Josh Osborne

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Artist-songwriter of the year

1. Lainey Wilson
2. Ernest
3. HARDY
4. Luke Combs
5. Morgan Wallen

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Veteran comedian describes how being in pro-life movie changed him

Legendary comedian Jamie Kennedy is getting candid about cancel culture that he says has turned him into the free speech advocate he is today.

During a recent interview with Fox News Digital, the veteran stand-up comic, TV show creator and film star lamented mainstream culture’s efforts in recent years to silence him and other celebrities, like “Scream” series star Melissa Barerra, for sharing controversial opinions, starring in controversial movies, or making offensive jokes.

“I think the whole idea, the term ‘cancel’ – ‘cancellation’ – think about that. Think how insane that term is. Like, ‘Hey, you know what? We don’t like what you said. Canceled.’ Like, what? ‘You’re done. You don’t matter. You’re deleted.’ What? I’m not worth anything? Like, you talk about inclusive. That’s like the most uninclusive thing of all time,” Kennedy said.

‘LAST CALL’ STAR JAMIE KENNEDY TALKS CANCEL CULTURE: ‘THERE’S NO FORGIVENESS ANYMORE’

Kennedy has been a household name in the entertainment industry for over 30 years, having starred in major Hollywood franchises like “Scream,” written and produced his own TV show in the early 2000s, “The Jamie Kennedy Experiment,” and continued to do stand-up over the years. The comedian also now hosts his “HATE TO BREAK IT TO YA” podcast. 

Like other influential veteran comedians, Kennedy said he has noticed a cultural phenomenon in recent years that has sought to punish prominent people for sharing controversial opinions. In many cases, this has happened to prominent conservative figures, like Star Wars “The Mandalorian” actress Gina Carano, who was fired by Disney in 2021 for her social media posts comparing the experience of Jewish people during the Holocaust to the U.S. political divide.

Carano would go on to sue Disney, accusing it of firing her over “refusing to support movements and ideologies with which she did not agree,” including Black Lives Matter, COVID lockdowns and sharing pronouns. As of July 2024, a U.S. District judge denied Disney’s motion to dismiss the actress’ suit, allowing it to move forward.

Kennedy ripped the unfairness of Carano’s firing during the interview, telling Fox News Digital, “I love Gina, she’s amazing. And that should have never happened. She should have never gotten canceled. That really felt personal and like a targeted attack. They were waiting for her to make something that was considered a mistake. You know, there was no forgiveness or, you know, it was just done. And I mean, that was just crazy to me.”

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He continued, “Here she is, she’s a woman. She’s an independent woman, strong, classy, and can handle herself. And she’s like a hero, a heroine in a Disney show, and they cancel her. Like she’s the embodiment of what you want as a strong woman.”

However, the comedian mentioned that the actress’ firing did have a silver lining – that it woke people up to the insanity of this crackdown on free speech. 

“So, I think those types of cancelations started turning the tide because people are like, ‘Why? What did she ever do?’ You know what I mean? OK, you didn’t like what she said? Let her come on, explain, and have a conversation. There was no room for error or mistake or explanation,” he said.

Though high-profile people with conservative opinions seem to have made up the majority of cancel culture’s victims, Kennedy argued that one of the biggest victims of cancel culture was punished for her liberal views. 

Spyglass Entertainment fired “Scream” star Melissa Barerra from future franchise installments in 2023 after she shared several anti-Israel social media posts in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack. 

One of Barrera’s multiple posts read, “Gaza is currently being treated like a concentration camp. Cornering everyone together, with no where to go, no electricity no water … People have [learned] nothing from our histories. And just like our histories, people are still silently watching it all happen. THIS IS GENOCIDE & ETHNIC CLEANSING.”

In another, she suggested that social media and Western media only show the Israeli side of the war in an act of censorship.

ROB SCHNEIDER’S NEW BOOK CALLS ON ALL AMERICANS TO DEFEND THEIR FREE SPEECH: ‘STAND UP’ OR ‘WE’LL LOSE IT’

Though Spyglass justified the decision because of its “zero tolerance for antisemitism,” Kennedy, who starred in the original 1996 “Scream” film, argued this was an example of cancel culture as egregious as the rest of them.

“100%, it was cancel culture. She should have never been fired. She has her beliefs, OK? She’s allowed to have her beliefs. Other people on set have other beliefs. This is, you know, it’s the most difficult subject – one of the most difficult subjects to discuss right now in modern times. And she’s brave enough to put her beliefs out there,” he said. “If you don’t like them, call her up. Talk to her.”

Kennedy mentioned how shocked he was that the career of a rising star like Barerra could just be derailed over her opinion. “I had never seen that in terms of like a star so hot, so on her rise – just everything ripped away for a tweet. A tweet! It was ridiculous, and it’s just gonna fuel more people going, ‘why did you do that?’”

Kennedy’s sensitivity to the issue comes from his own battles with the media and Hollywood, in particular the backlash he got for simply having a role in the 2021 movie, “Roe v. Wade,” a film about the landmark ruling that legalized abortion in the United States.

Around the time of its release, media critics trashed the film as pro-life religious propaganda. The film’s director, Nick Loeb, told Fox News Digital that the film was merely presenting the facts of the case.

Kennedy was cast as journalist and abortion-rights advocate Larry Leder in the film. He told Fox that he thought it was a good role at the time and didn’t have strong political feelings about it, saying he “knew nothing” about the film’s subject matter. He explained how he was blindsided by the media criticizing him simply for being on the project.

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“That’s all I did was take heat,” he said. “I did the movie. I tell everybody, it was an independent movie. I was treated first class. We shot in New Orleans for like five weeks. I got a straight offer. It was a character that was, you know, a very big character in the history of Planned Parenthood. He studied under Margaret Sanger, one of the founders of Planned Parenthood. He was a hero to the left.”

Kennedy acknowledged that he knew the movie was a “controversial take” on the abortion provider, but noted it wasn’t until Loeb “gave me books and said, ‘Read this, read this, read this,’” that he became more knowledgeable about abortion and Planned Parenthood. 

“It was fascinating and it kind of changed me as a person,” he said. 

However, Kennedy said the bigger impact on him came from the media reaction to him being in the film.

“But then just being in that movie, the amount of vitriol that I received. I’m like, I’m an actor and these, like, you know, like The Daily Beast and you know, Decider, or whatever these different publications – The Atlantic – wrote these reviews, and they would just call me out. You know, ‘Jamie Kennedy is a right-wing’ – all this stuff. And it’s like, what?  I’m just an actor.”

Kennedy, who often blasts the media and isn’t afraid to talk politics or get into conspiracy theories on his podcast, told Fox News Digital that the media effort to cancel “Roe V. Wade” had “totally birthed who you’re talking to.”

The comedian also described how the cancel culture scourge affected his comedy career, forcing him to drop doing stand-up shows on college campuses altogether because audiences couldn’t take certain jokes, even from liberal comedians.

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Providing the reasons he abandoned college venues, he said, “A, I started getting booked less, B, they started booking comedians less, and C, they started getting mad at comedians, liberal comedians,” he said. “Like hardcore San Francisco liberal comedies were getting in trouble for jokes. Like, it’s crazy. So, no one wanted really to do them.”

When asked if some of his old comedy material or his movies, like 2003’s “Malibu’s Most Wanted,” would be able to get made today, Kennedy admitted it would “definitely” be difficult. The 2003 film starred Kennedy as a wannabe White rapper.

The comedian defended the film, arguing it has messages about White and Black culture that are relevant today.

“We took stereotypes, we flipped them on their heads, and you know, people always say a good comedy gives you a message without you knowing it. You know what I mean? Malibu has a lot of messages in it. It’s packaged as a nice, fun, light comedy, but it still holds up because people say the different things and they quote it and stuff,” he said.

He continued, “But it 100% was commenting on what was going on and what we think Black culture is or White culture and, you know, being true to yourself. Can you be this way, even though you weren’t, you know, raised in this culture, and so forth? Those are the deeper meanings of the movie, but in a nutshell, it’s really funny, you know?”

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Still, Kennedy expressed hope that the movie could be made again following President Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory. 

“But I think with Trump coming in, I think it could be made again. It needs to be made,” he declared.