Eric Trump calls Brad Pitt ‘smug elitist’, says low Oscar ratings show Americans don’t like being preached to
President Donald Trump's younger son, Eric Trump, slammed actor Brad Pitt over his acceptance speech at the Oscars Sunday night after the 'Once Upon A Time in Hollywood' star took a shot at Republican senators for not allowing witnesses during Trump's impeachment trial.
Eric called Pitt a "smug elitist" on Instagram, and appeared to suggest that political antics by celebrities were behind the award event witnessing its lowest ratings ever.
"Probably because Americans don’t liked (sic) to be preached to by smug elitists. The elegance has been lost and America has tuned these people out of their homes," Eric wrote on Instagram while sharing a graphic from Fox Business highlighting the low viewership, which stood at 25 percent this year.
Pitt, on February 9, won his first-ever Oscar in the category of best supporting actor for his part as a stuntman in 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.' The actor then made an acceptance speech where he took a swipe at Republican senators for voting against Democrats' requests to call new witnesses in the impeachment trial against Trump, particularly former National Security Adviser John Bolton. The former adviser had claimed he was willing to testify and had damning information.
"They told me I only have 45 seconds up here, which is 45 seconds more than the Senate gave John Bolton this week," Pitt said. "I’m thinking maybe Quentin [Tarantino] does a movie about it. In the end, the adults do the right thing."
The Oscars witnessed its smallest audience ever as the event telecast averaged 23.6 million viewers on Sunday night, The Hollywood Reporter stated. The outlet noted that the total was "well below the 29.56 million and 7.7 for last year's awards" and came down 20 percent in year-to-year viewers. The broadcast of the show, which was without a host this time, fell nearly 2 million viewers short of the previous all-time low in 2018. The Academy Awards last year had stopped a four-year rating slide, and had witnessed an audience growth for the first time since 2014.
