Is Hollywood becoming MAGA friendly?
In the wake of CAA adding former President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to its client roster, UTA quietly signed Republican National Committee Youth Advisory Council co-chair CJ Pearson, who joins the agency’s growing list of D.C. insiders like Biden administration Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas.
Pearson, a media savvy political strategist and Gen Z activist, played a key role in mobilizing young conservatives during the 2024 election. The Georgia native, who is a frequent guest on Fox News and Newsmax, worked to bridge the gap between the RNC and influencer community in the successful bid to return President Donald Trump to the White House.
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With a strong presence in both the traditional and digital press, he also has built a significant social media following, amassing more than 535,000 followers on X and 166,000 on TikTok. As such, the ardent Trump supporter has become one of the most influential young voices in American politics.
Pearson is no shrinking violet. He got into a public spat with New York Magazine over its recent cover story “The Cruel Kids Table,” which depicted a MAGA celebration at a Washington hotspot on inauguration eve as an all-white event. Pearson, who is Black and co-hosted the bash, blasted the publication for cropping him out of the cover shot and minimizing Black attendees who are Trump supporters.
“I hosted this event and @NYMag intentionally left me out of their story because it would have undermined their narrative that MAGA is some racist cult,” he wrote on X. In a Fox News Digital interview, Pearson said he has sent a formal notice to the magazine that he plans to sue for creating the impression that the event was “some KKK kumbaya pizza party.” New York Magazine has defended the piece, saying, “We believe both the cover and story provide an accurate impression of the weekend.” (Variety reported on the TikTok-sponsored party before the New York Magazine cover story.)
UTA has a strong roster of D.C. figures who transitioned to become on-air talent, like former Biden spokesperson Jen Psaki, who is getting more a prominent role at MSNBC amid a recent shakeup.