AT&T's dropping stock prices after DirecTV's deplatforming of Newsmax show that consumers have "realized the power that they have had for years" to fight back, actor John Schneider, the star of the independent film "To Die For" said on Newsmax Sunday.
"I've been telling people if you have a company or a celebrity, or a group of people with whom you disagree, you've got to stop supporting them," Schneider, who rose to fame in the 1970s as a star in the hit TV series “The Dukes of Hazzard," told Newsmax's "Wake Up America."
"When Dwayne Johnson came out in favor of Joe Biden, I will never watch another Dwayne Johnson movie again," he added, I call him now 'The Pebble.' You have the ability. You have the power. It's the power of the purse."
DirecTV customers call toll free at 877-763-9762 to complain, demand Newsmax is returned! Oppose censorship – sign The Petition – Click Here
"We have to stop inadvertently supporting that which we disagree with, so this has been a great opportunity for the people to be able to flex their public muscles and say no, we've had enough," Schneider said. "They did it with Disney. I applaud. I applaud the demise of Disney and I applaud the demise of DirecTV."
It's also important to remember that "seemingly huge companies are really owned by a couple of globalist billionaires," he said. "We can't allow ourselves to be, you know, look at this shiny thing over here. We have to get to the root of the problem. And the root of the problem is these people who own all of these corporations and are telling Hollywood what to do. You know, Hollywood just does what they're told. DirecTV just does what they're told."
And with the deplatforming of Newsmax, "it really comes down to the First Amendment," he said. "They have eliminated free speech unless, of course, it's their speech."
Schneider said he and his wife decided the message for their new movie, which celebrates law enforcement, the military, and the flag, was important, and he never tried to get Hollywood involved in making it or distributing it.
"We are our own parent corporation," he said. "If you're going to be independent and truly independent, it is harder, but you reap the rewards. Every time someone purchases a DVD from our website. I get a little ding on my phone, so I don't have a distributor who's owned by a billionaire globalist lying to me about how much money my movie is losing."
Newsmax is America's fourth highest-rated news network in the cable landscape and a top-20 overall channel that reaches 25 million Americans weekly, according to the Nielsen ratings.
DirecTV said it dropped the popular network due to "cost-cutting" measures, but AT&T's DirecTV carries 22 left-leaning news channels, many of which draw considerably lower ratings than Newsmax, and those channels get paid license fees.
DirecTV claimed Newsmax was demanding "excessive fees" that would amount to "tens of millions" of dollars. Newsmax denied that, saying it is seeking an approximate fee of $1 per cable subscriber per year, among the lowest requested fees in cable.
"This was never about the fees being excessive," Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy said. "DirecTV's position has always been that Newsmax — of all cable news channels — should never get any cable fee whatsoever, not one penny."
Actions to Take Now
1. DirecTV customers call toll free at 877-763-9762 to complain, demand Newsmax is back on air!
2. Call your congressman or senator at 202-224-3121 and demand they stop AT&T/DirecTV's censorship of NEWSMAX — ask them to give you a date on the hearings!
3. Go to our online petition and get more info: iWantNewsmax.com.