From the magazine

Am I a MAGA icon?

Joan Collins
 Getty Images
EXPLORE THE ISSUE 18 January 2025
issue 18 January 2025

‘Traitor!’ the woman yelled at me the instant I entered the beautifully decorated living room of a famous actress. It was a Twelfth Night celebration, and the room was full of glamorous friends and acquaintances. ‘What?’ I replied, bemused. ‘That photo!’ she screamed, ‘How could you take that picture with all those Republicans?’

Over Christmas I had been to a dinner hosted by some good friends who happen to be Republicans. This, it turned out, was a great crime. I am a Tory but have many socialist friends and we get along just fine and have hearty and amusing conversations. Here in America, though, it seems Democrats and the Republicans cannot even mingle. ‘Are you kidding me?’ I asked her. ‘No, I’m not,’ she snapped. ‘I don’t come to your country and get involved in your politics.’ The trouble was that she had read about the dinner on Mail Online, in an article declaring: ‘Hollywood icon is named MAGA Patriot.’ Next day there was another headline: ‘Why MAGA Patriot Joan will always be in Trump’s corner.’ I am almost certain that the ‘source’ of this tidbit is an LA wannabe who makes money by feeding trash to the media. ‘Dailymail.com has contacted reps for Collins for comment,’ it added ungrammatically. As The Donald would say: ‘Fake news.’

A week later, an ominous report on TV said there was a fire in Pacific Palisades. Within an hour, the Pacific Coast highway was shut down and the airwaves were full of news of major destruction. The TV showed palm trees ignited by embers blown by the 90-mile-an-hour wind.

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