‘Hillbilly Elegy’ Director Ron Howard Slams JD Vance: ‘Surprised and Disappointed’

Ron Howard Directed JD Vance’s Best-Selling Memoir Hillbilly Elegy Four years ago, the director publicly criticized the Republican vice presidential candidate, saying he was “surprised and disappointed” by the “rhetoric he reads and hears.”

At the Toronto Film Festival to promote his latest film EdenRon Howard had to answer questions about JD Vance from several media outlets, some of which clearly had a grudge against Vance.

“We didn’t talk about politics a lot while we were making the movie because I was interested in his upbringing and his survival story. That’s what we focused on,” Howard told Deadline, which in its question to Howard described Vance as “polarizing” and “volatile.”

“However, based on the conversations we’ve had during this period, I have to say that I’m very surprised and disappointed by much of the rhetoric that I read and hear. People change, and I suspect that’s the case.”

Howard offered a similar response to Variety when asked about Vance.

“I was surprised and concerned by a lot of the rhetoric that followed this campaign,” the filmmaker said. “I never voted for Donald Trump to be president again, no matter who the vice president was. But given my experience five or six years ago, yes, I would say I was surprised.”

Howard urged Americans to “go out and vote, for whoever it is. But be thoughtful. Listen to what the candidates are saying today, that’s what’s really relevant, that’s who they are today. And make a decision, an informed decision.”

Hillbilly Elegy Star Glenn Close also turned on JD Vance, after she earned an Oscar nomination for playing his grandmother.

As Breitbart News reported, the actress criticized Vance on Instagram over a comment he made about a cat years ago. In two recent Instagram posts, she defended women who own feline companions. “Eve would have left a bloody mouse head in the bed of anyone who criticized a woman with a CAT!” Close wrote.

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