Hypocritical Millionaires vs. Billionaires: Hollywood’s New Trend

For multimillionaire celebrities, publicly attacking billionaires has become a new way to demonstrate their supposedly “correct” political credentials, the New York Post writes.

Last week, Andrew Garfield took things a step further, saying he hopes to frighten the ultra-rich with his new film The Uprising, which tells the story of the Peasants’ Revolt in England in 1381.

The 43-year-old actor said he wants the movie to be “mobilizing.”

“I hope people feel some kind of awakening... that we all feel our own struggles reflected in the struggles of these characters from a distant past and another place,” he said. “And I hope that if any billionaires watch it, they’ll be scared shitless,” Garfield added.

Odd. What exactly are they supposed to be afraid of? Perhaps he would like to explain it in detail to the billionaires who have financed his projects over the years and helped him amass his own fortune.

What is he hoping for? Some kind of violence against the elite? And if so, where exactly does he place himself on this “hierarchy of the wealthy”? Does he really think that when the uprising begins, the angry masses will simply pass him by because he is a “good” rich person who said all the right things?

“Criticism from the Cockpits of Private Jets”

Garfield is merely the latest pampered celebrity, alongside Billie Eilish, Mark Ruffalo and Lewis Hamilton, to perform the obligatory ritual of billionaire-bashing for public consumption.

But it is rather amusing when these people rail against the richest of the rich while sitting inside their own private jets — even if their planes happen to be slightly smaller.

Bashing billionaires has become a mandatory trend among the progressive crowd, which believes anyone with serious money should be hit with eye-watering taxes to fund their favorite socialist projects. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has even said that billionaires should not exist at all.

Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton expressed a similar sentiment in a 2023 interview with podcaster Jay Shetty: “You shouldn’t have billions. I think there should be a cap on how much you can have, because there’s enough resources for everyone.”

One can only assume that Hamilton, who is dating billionaire Kim Kardashian, has had a serious heart-to-heart with her about it. Perhaps he lectured her about all those zeros in her bank account and categorically refused any of the perks her fortune might offer him.

Except Hamilton is hardly struggling himself. According to the Sunday Times Rich List, the British driver’s personal fortune is estimated at more than $550 million. And he has officially lived in Monaco since 2010, a convenient arrangement that shields his wealth from Britain’s punishing tax regime. His own prosperity is deeply intertwined with people and companies possessing some of the deepest pockets on the planet.

Pop Culture’s Double Standards

Billie Eilish is no different. She is currently selling her own vegan perfume for $88.

At an awards ceremony in 2025, she wagged her finger at those with the coveted “B” attached to their net worth:

“I love you all, but there’s a couple people in here who have way more money than me. If you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire? No offense, but yeah, give your money away, little babies.”

Rich women first, please. We insist.

Conveniently left out of the discussion is the fact that many billionaires — including Ken Langone and Ken Griffin — generously fund hospitals, museums and cultural programs. They also create enormous numbers of jobs, allowing countless families to earn a living. And the notoriously controversial Elon Musk, through his brain-computer interface company Neuralink, is helping people with spinal injuries regain a degree of independence by allowing them to control computers with their thoughts.

Contributions like these arguably do far more for society than releasing a catchy song, making a movie or putting your name on a bottle of perfume. But shouting populist slogans like “Tax the rich” and celebrating billionaires’ downfall is far easier than having an honest conversation about what many — though certainly not all — billionaires actually contribute to society.

Those who demonize the wealthy are now setting their sights on the super-rich. But once that class has been dealt with, the crowd will simply move on to the multimillionaires with their wealth, status and influence.

Aligning yourself with the “left-wing” movement offers Garfield no guarantee that tomorrow the crowd chanting “Eat the rich” won’t come knocking at his door, too.