Ethan Hawke Blasts Hollywood's 'Greedy' Power Players and Predicts Massive Rebellion Against Entertainment Industry

Ethan Hawke isn't holding back on what he thinks about the powers that be in the entertainment industry, RadarOnline.com can confirm.

During a recent interview, the actor went off on those in charge, labeling them "greedy b------s" and predicting a huge rebellion.

"I believe in rebellion," Hawke began. "And I think people are going to wake up and punch back, and there’s going to be massive movements in music and massive movements in live theater and massive movements of people getting together."

"So, don’t worry that the money and the greedy b------s that think they control everybody; they always lose in the end," he continued. "And they’re all going in the grave eventually."

The Oscar-nominated performer added, "They think they’re winning, but they’re losing because their lives are worthless."

Hawke also pointed out how money shapes the entertainment industry, noting that projects artists are most passionate about usually pay the least.

"There's a direct correlation. I find that the more you love a project, the less you get paid," he revealed. "If you want to beat the algorithm, it's very difficult to do that and be paid."

"I wouldn’t be the first person to say that there’s an aspect of celebrity that is like a disease," Hawke said in the interview. "And you can handle little bits of it, but too much of it – we can see what happened to Elvis and we can see Michael Jackson."

"It’s a form of isolation," he argued. "It’s like being put in a zoo, and zoo animals go nuts. So do human beings."

This isn't the only time Hawke has spoken publicly about the downsides of the entertainment industry. During a 2025 appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, he recalled making a name for himself as a teen and shared his unfiltered take on fame.

"I think celebrity is like a tiny drop of mercury. Or it's poison. It's poison for your brain," the 55-year-old claimed. "To be a professional actor at a young age, it's dangerous in extremely insidious ways that are very, very hard to perceive when it's happening."

"That analogy works for all walks of life, really," Hawke said. "If you have something really traumatic happen in childhood, it's very hard to recover."

"It's a tremendous amount of work to recover," he concluded.