Hillary Clinton Gets Harsh Hollywood Reviews On Eve Of New Memoir Release

Hollywood may have been one of Hillary Clinton’s biggest donors, but on the eve of the release of her memoir What Happened, Tinseltown is now trying to keep a distance from the failed Presidential candidate.

“You think it is a coincidence that she’s not coming to town?” a producer who was a repeat contributor to Clinton’s big bucks campaign told Deadline. “Come on, she knows she is toxic here right now,” the deep-pocketed Democrat added with a degree of bitterness about Clinton’s multi-city book tour that kicks off September 18 in Washington D.C. “They took everyone’s donations, made a lot of promises, and then left everyone holding the bag when she lost.”

Constantly in California during the election for Silicon Valley- and Hollywood-hosted fundraisers by the likes of Haim Saban and spouse Cheryl, Disney boss Bob Iger, and Jeffrey Katzenberg and wife Marilyn, among others, Clinton won the state by a strong double-digit margin over Donald Trump in November while losing other keys states and the Electoral College. Yet, the ex-New York senator and Secretary of State’s only Golden State stop so far on her 15-city U.S. and Canada hoopla tour for tomorrow’s release of What Happened is at UC Davis on October 9.

In previews for the book and a series of media appearances including CBS Sunday Morning yesterday, Clinton has pitched at least partial blame for her loss to the ex-Celebrity Apprentice host on a variety of factors. Taking some personal responsibility, as she has on a number of occasions this year, for her lackluster campaign, the two-time Presidential hopeful and popular vote winner seems to also have exhausted more than a few of her Hollywood supporters. Specifically, as they wait to get their hands on What Happened to see if they are mentioned, insiders tell me that they are frustrated with the re-emergence of a pattern of finger-pointing to which she and former President Bill Clinton defaulted previously.

The sit-down with Jane Pauley on Sunday saw ex-FBI Director James Comey and the email server scandal, white nationalists and Trump’s “deplorable” appeal to an angry electorate reiterated by Clinton in a familiar chorus that has also included primary rival Sen. Bernie Sanders, Vladimir Putin and Russian hackers, Barack Obama and DNC tech support. “The forces that were at work in 2016 were unlike anything that I’ve ever seen or read about,” Clinton said in her first significant TV interview since the election. “It was a perfect storm.”

“It’s the same old Clinton mantra of it’s someone else’s fault and how much money can we rack in?” a studio executive said at last night’s Creative Arts Emmys of the “divisive” attitude she has displayed so far promoting the 512-page book published by CBS subsidiary Simon & Schuster.

Starting the day after the Primetime Emmys, Clinton’s book tour will visit Michigan and Wisconsin, both states she lost, with VIP packages of up to $2,000 at some stops. Though she has said she will not be a national candidate again, Clinton also indicated that she foresees a role for herself on the political stage because she believes “that our country’s future is at stake,” she told Pauley. “Don’t the Clintons get it that we all need some down time from them?” the frustrated insider said.

After instant bestseller What Happened hits shelves, Clinton is scheduled for softball stops on The View on September 13, CBS’ The Late Show With Stephen Colbert on September 19 and The Daily Show Wih Trevor Noah on November 1. Her book tour wraps in Vancouver, Canada on December 13 after stops in Portland and Seattle.

Of course, with all the checks written by the likes of Steven Spielberg, Shonda Rhimes, Harvey Weinstein and Casey Wasserman during the last White House campaign, the shift away from Clinton also reflects Democratic donors looking for a new place to park their cash, Super PAC and otherwise.

“Hillary still has a lot of support here personally but she is not a leader in the party anymore and the big donors are looking for the next Obama, who the next winner can be,” one of the former First Lady’s big backers last year pointed out. “Maybe it’s Kamala Harris, maybe it’s Elizabeth Warren, maybe its Corey Booker,” the donor ruminated. “Maybe it’s someone else, but it is not the candidate who lost an election that was supposed to be a done deal, I can tell you that for sure.”

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