Jim Carrey’s Moral Crisis Led To His Decision To Step Back From The Spotlight

Apr 27, 2022 by apost team

Jim Carrey's engaging and eclectic slapstick comedy style has paved his way to international fame. The Hollywood comedian got his big break in the 1990s when he landed a recurring role in Keenan Ivory Wayans' "In Living Color." The sketch comedy series ran from 1990 to 1994. "In Living Color" launched the careers of many other Hollywood stars, including Jennifer Lopez, Jamie Foxx, and Tommy Davidson. The series also turned many of the family members in the Wayans Family into household names. Carrey stood out as one of the only white cast members.

Following his stint on "Living in Color," the Canadian-born comedian focused on his movie career. In 1994, Carrey landed the lead role in "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective." The film grossed $72.2million in the United States and Canada. That same year Carrey starred in "Dumb and Dumber" and "The Mask," which were all box office hits. The iconic comedian when on to star in several Hollywood hits such as "Bruce Almighty," "Yes, Man," and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."

Known for his notable roles in several of Hollywood's comedic hits, the award-winning actor has shed his goofiness to appear in several dramas and dramedies, which earned him immense recognition. In 1999, the famed comedian won his first Golden Globe in Best Performances by an Actor in a Motion Picture for his performance as Truman Burbank in "The Truman Show."

Although known as one of the most hilarious men in Hollywood, the iconic comedian has his platform to shed light on societal issues.

Two months before "Kick Ass 2" was set to premiere, comedian and actor Jim Carrey made headlines after publicly refusing to promote the film following the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting. In the film, the award-winning actor plays Colonel Stars and Stripes, an amateur masked crime fighter who forms an alliance with the team Kick-Ass. 

The Sandy Hook shootings took place on Dec. 12th, 2012, when a gunman, Adam Lanza, entered Sandy Hook Elementary School and opened fire. Lanza killed 26 people, 20 of which were children between the ages of 6 and 7. The film stopped filming just weeks before the devastating school shooting. 

In a series of tweets, Carrey explained how his viewpoint changed after Sandy Hook and denounced the film's violence. 

"I did Kick-Ass a month [before] Sandy Hook and now in all good conscience I cannot support that level of violence," Carrey tweeted. 

Carrey further apologized to his fellow cast members involved in the film but still believes that supporting the film would go against his new viewpoint. 

"I meant to say my apologies to others [involved] with the film." Carrey tweeted. "I am not ashamed of it but recent events have caused a change in my heart."

Since the shooting, the Golden Globe winner has been extremely outspoken about gun control, using his platform to promote gun control laws and policies. In March 2013, the actor created a "Funny or Die" skit titled "Cold Dead Hand," He impersonates actor and NRA former president Charlton Heston at a country music show. In a press release, Carrey defends his video. 

"I find the gun problem frustrating and 'Cold Dead Hand' is my fun little way of expressing that frustration," Carrey said in the statement accompanying the video's release.

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Embarking on the road of activism, the famed comedian announced that he would be boycotting Facebook, stating that the company "profited" from "Russian interference in our elections and they're still not doing enough to stop it."

In a statement sent to Business Insider, Carrey explained his decision to leave Facebook and urged the importance of "capitalism with a conscience."

"Social media has created cyber-bridges over which those who do not have our best interest in mind can cross and we are allowing it," he wrote. "We must encourage more oversight by the owners of these social media platforms. This easy access has to be more responsibly handled."

In response to the political turmoil of Donald Trump's presidency, Carrey became a political cartoonist. Carrey's artwork expressed his disdain for the current state of American politics. 

"To me, that was like a time, and it's been a time, where I just wanted to be the lighthouse that was saying, 'Hey, stay off the rocks, you're headed for the rocks,'" Carrey told Yahoo. "We're still headed for the rocks, but I've decided, 'You understand my message, I don't need to be steeped in it anymore.' I think after a while … you get stuck in that kind of stuff." 

Carrey admits he does not hate any of the people he depicted. Instead, he explained to the outlet that the ultimate goal of his art was to encourage Americans to vote.

"What I want to tell people is, 'It's never been a matter of hating anyone.' I can sit down with anybody in this country and break bread," Carrey said. "I love people. To me, I think we got tricked by politicians and by weird corporate concerns to believe that disagreement is hatred. And I will never go for that."

Jim Carrey is a multi-talented Hollywood star. What is your favorite Jim Carrey movie? Let us know, and be sure to pass this on to the Jim Carrey fans in your life.