Hermosa Beach Right Wing Street Art - H 2015
Politically motivated street artists have plastered disparaging posters about Ed Begley Jr. and Robert Kennedy Jr. around Hermosa Beach, Calif., ahead of their scheduled appearance at an environmental forum there on Thursday.
The posters feature images of the celebrities wearing Arab head-dresses and the words, “Saudi Approved” written in large letters. In the background of Begley’s poster is Arabic text that translates to, “I love Arab oil,” while the poster of Kennedy has Arab text translating to, “Hello, ladies.”
The street artists are remaining anonymous, but they said in an email that in the case of Begley, they are riffing off of a video-sting operation conducted by conservative activist James O’Keefe.
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In that video, Begley seems to agree to be part of an American anti-fracking movie while keeping secret that the film would be financed by Arab oil money.
Begley told The Hollywood Reporter that he is hearing-impaired and was only being polite during the sting video and that he did not agree to anything nefarious.
“How desperate must they be to portray someone who has used precious little oil since 1970 as being pro-Saudi oil,” Begley said about the street art that sprang up Wednesday in not only Hermosa Beach but surrounding areas as well.
“As for ‘Saudi Approved,’ I don’t think there’s a Saudi living who even knows who I am,” Begley said.
“We’re fed up with the environmental narrative that sounds good, but is ultimately dangerous and backwards,” the street artists said in an email to THR. “Characters like Begley and Kennedy claim the moral high ground without anyone questioning the damage that their politics cause to real people in the real world.”
The seemingly politically conservative street artists behind the attacks on Begley and Kennedy are following a template popularized by Sabo, though Sabo, who has attacked various Hollywood liberals via his posters, is not involved in this particular operation.
The event, dubbed the Environmental Forum With Bobby Kennedy Jr. & Ed Begley Jr., is at the Hermosa Beach Community Theatre on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Email: Paul.Bond@THR.com
Feb. 11, 2015, 3:15 p.m. Updated with a response from Ed Begley Jr.
