Jennifer Lawrence says celebrity endorsements don't change how people vote. Is she right?
- - Jennifer Lawrence says celebrity endorsements don't change how people vote. Is she right?
Brendan Morrow, USA TODAYNovember 4, 2025 at 2:34 AM
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Jennifer Lawrence says celebrities make no difference on how people vote. Is that true?
The Oscar-winning "Hunger Games" star, 35, recently told The New York Times' "The Interview" podcast she has been questioning whether she should continue speaking out about politics after criticizing President Donald Trump for years and endorsing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the last two presidential elections.
"We've learned election after election, celebrities do not make a difference whatsoever on who people vote for," she said in the Nov. 1 episode. "And so then what am I doing?"
The comments came a year after Trump, for the second time, defeated a Democratic candidate who had a wave of celebrity supporters behind her — including Taylor Swift, who endorsed Harris with much fanfare in 2024.
Jessica Feezell, an associate professor of political science at the University of New Mexico, tells USA TODAY Lawrence is correct that celebrity endorsements "rarely determine how people vote."
Jennifer Lawrence attends the "Die My Love" red carpet during the 20th Rome Film Festival at Auditorium Parco Della Musica on Oct. 20, 2025 in Rome, Italy.
"Voter choice is usually driven by much more powerful, stable forces, like party identification, socioeconomic status, demographics and, of course, major political events," Feezell says.
Megan Duncan, an associate professor at Virginia Tech's School of Communication, agrees it is "unlikely that any one celebrity is going to get you to change from going into an election expecting to vote for a Republican and then voting for a Democrat, or vice versa."
But this isn't to say celebrity endorsements have no impact at all.
Jennifer Lawrence unsure she should keep criticizing Trump, talking politics
"Celebrities have been shown through research to bring attention to especially lesser known candidates in primaries," Duncan said. "Even in larger elections where the candidates have better name recognition to begin with, celebrity endorsements can bring attention from audiences who aren't paying attention to politics.
"It's not about changing party," she adds. "It's about getting people excited, getting people to show up to vote, or to register to vote. It's that enthusiasm bit that can make a difference."
One example supporting the idea that celebrities can have an impact is Oprah Winfrey's famous 2007 endorsement of Barack Obama ahead of the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries.
A 2012 study, conducted by Craig Garthwaite of Northwestern University and Timothy J. Moore of the University of Maryland, concluded that Winfrey's widely publicized endorsement of Obama three months after he launched his campaign "generated a statistically and qualitatively significant increase in the number of votes Obama received."
But even if A-list stars like Lawrence don't directly change a person's vote, they can influence a political candidate's favorability and voters' perception of the "importance of politics more generally," especially among the portion of the population that is not politically engaged, according to Feezell.
Why do celebrities endorse politicians? Because it can sway votes.
Barack Obama addresses a crowd while Oprah Winfrey and Michelle Obama look on during a campaign event on Dec. 9, 2007, in Manchester, New Hampshire.
For example, when Swift broke her silence on politics by endorsing Democrat Phil Bredesen in Tennessee's Senate election in 2018, while Bredesen ultimately lost the race, Feezell explains the singer sent a signal to fans that "it's cool to pay attention to politics."
"If celebrities are talking about politics, then people tend to think that political issues are more important," Feezell says, noting that "for people who have low levels of political interest, celebrity endorsements can be pretty powerful."
And in 2024, while Swift's chosen candidate ended up losing the election, her endorsement of Harris still led to a surge in visitors to Vote.gov, a website directing users to voting information.
Stars can also mobilize their army of fans to donate to candidates they endorse, helping to support their fundraising efforts. "So maybe you're not exactly spurring someone to vote, but you're making it easier for that candidate to spend money on advertisements," Duncan says.
In 2024, a study from Harvard University concluded that while "some polling shows that people claim they aren't influenced by celebrity voices when it comes to politics, more rigorous evidence indicates that these voices are incredibly powerful."
The study noted that nonprofits "report higher rates of online voter registration or poll worker sign-ups when a celebrity promotes these calls to action," and stars getting involved in politics can also help "voting appear not only relevant but also trendy and socially appealing."
George Clooney, a prominent Democratic donor, also endorsed Harris in the 2024 election after joining a chorus of calls for Biden to drop out of the race, though he's since questioned whether Harris was the right choice. Trump's base of celebrity supporters included Caitlyn Jenner, Zachary Levi and Kid Rock, who have been vocal throughout the start of his second term.
While Lawrence may not be speaking out about politics as much going forward, she told the Times she still hopes to express her political views through her films. "A lot of my movies coming out from my production company are expressions of the political landscape," she said. "That's how I feel like I can be helpful."
Duncan encourages Lawrence to remain politically involved, even if she may feel defeated after the 2024 election.
"We can't dwell on that crushing feeling, that feeling of defeat, for too long, because politics does matter to everyone's everyday lives," she says. "However it is that we see our participation in democracy being most effective, we have to keep going."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jennifer Lawrence's politics comments and what experts say on voting
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