Some of Hollywood’s biggest stars have joined with the anti-nuclear group, Global Zero, in a new You Tube video to demand more action on the elimination of nuclear weapons.
Among the stars making a cameo in the video are Whoopi Goldberg, Morgan Freeman, Naomi Watts, Alex Baldwin, Michael Douglas, Martin Sheen, Danny DeVito, Robert DeNiro, Matt Damon, Zoe Kravitz, and Christoph Waltz.
The video begins with a clip of President Barack Obama’s famous 2009 speech from Prague when he stated, “clearly and with conviction America's commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.”
The stars then take turns explaining the importance of eliminating nuclear weapons—including denouncing the notion that the spread of nuclear weapons cannot be stopped. While admitting the enormity of the task, the stars contend in the video that if the world decides it can’t stop the spread of nuclear weapons then it is in some ways admitting that nuclear war is inevitable.
In the second half of the video, the stars introduce themselves and one-by-one say that they demand zero, a reference to Global Zero’s goal of a world without nuclear weapons.
Watch the video below:
In a press release accompanying the video, Global Zero says the video was intended to pressure President Obama to raise the issue of nuclear disarmament at the upcoming G-8 summit.
Following President Obama’s speech in Prague, he became the first President to chair a meeting of the UN Security Council in which that body passed a historic resolution committing itself to work towards the eventual elimination of nuclear weapons. Notably, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council are the same five countries the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) recognizes as the world’s legal nuclear weapon states.
During his earlier tenure as President, Obama also concluded a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia, pledging the two countries to reduce their stockpiles of deployed strategic nuclear arms to 1,550. New START faced tough resistance from Republicans in Congress but was eventually ratified during the lame duck session following the 2010 Congressional elections.
There have been some indications the White House intends to make an active push for a follow-on treaty with Russia during Obama’s second term, however, this effort was being led primarily by National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, who is slated to leave government sometime next month. His replacement, Susan Rice, has a tenuous relationship with Russia, at best.
Moscow itself has expressed reluctance to signing another bilateral nuclear reduction treaty believing that other nuclear powers like China should be included.
Obama is often seen as close to Hollywood. Many stars donated to his political campaign and a number even held fundraisers on his behalf. Almost all the stars in the video openly endorsed Obama’s election or re-election.