The industry often criticised for its role in funneling sex, violence, and profanity into American society and overseas is stepping up its efforts to defeat the ballot initiative that would ban same-sex marriage in California.
After weeks of criticism from opponents of Proposition 8, more Hollywood insiders are making declarations of support - financial and otherwise - for those who are trying to overturn the contested state Supreme Court ruling that legalized gay marriage earlier this year.
Leading the Hollywood outreach has been Oscar-winning producer Bruce Cohen, who wed art consultant Gabriel Catone in a ceremony officiated by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in June. According to The Associated Press, the "American Beauty" and "Pushing Daisies" producer dug deep into his contacts to ask for their support against Prop 8, which would change the state constitution to limit marriage to a union between a man and a woman.
"The entertainment industry is obviously an important donor base," Chad Griffin, a political strategist for the "No on 8" campaign, told AP. "It's an industry that's often stood up against discrimination."
To date, "No on 8" has received donations from notable TV, film and music celebrities including Brad Pitt, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Ellen DeGeneres, Bridget Fonda, Melissa Etheridge, Mary J Blige and Barbara Streiesand.
The "Yes on 8" campaign, on the other hand, has far less star power.
Sonja Eddings Brown, a spokeswoman for "Yes on 8," said the campaign has not reached out to Hollywood because "the campaign is a campaign of the people".
"It's not intended to be dotted with celebrities," she told AP.
As a result of the last-minute fundraising blitz in Hollywood, however, "No on 8" has out-raised the ProtectMarriage coalition by a 9-1 margin over the past two weeks, taking back the overall fundraising lead.
