Lucy Lawless is calling out her former Hercules and Xena: Warrior Princess costar Kevin Sorbo for a racially charged comment he made on social media. Sorbo, a vocal supporter of Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump, followed the former President’s lead in questioning Kamala Harris’ heritage. At the recent National Association of Black Journalists conference, Trump asked whether the Democratic nominee, who was born in Oakland, California, to an Indian mother and Jamaican father, was Indian or Black. On August 8, Sorbo took Trump’s comments one step further, writing:
“If Kamala really is black, have her say the N-word, let the people decide for themselves.”
Lawless, who often calls out former President Trump, joined thousands of social media users disgusted by Sorbo’s post. In two (now deleted) posts, Lawless sarcastically came to Sorbo’s defense by sharing a story dating back to the 1990s and referencing the death of Nicole Simpson Brown. Lawless said (via Yahoo Entertainment):
“In his defense, I personally witnessed a time when Kevin Sorbo stuck up for a black man against white people. @RonFilipkowski @JohnFugelsang
The NZ summer, Feb 1995 when my character, #Xena was introduced into my husband’s show, ‘Hercules the Legendary Journeys’. We actors were sitting around and I bought up a news item. I said, ‘Guys, did you guys hear about that woman and her friend who were brutally murdered in LA? I think maybe the footballer did it!’ And Peanut growled: ‘Hey! I knew Nicole and let me tell you… she was no picnic!’ BOOM.
We were all gobsmacked. I said, ‘She didn’t deserve to be stabbed to death. He replied, ‘I’m just saying, She was a piece of work.’ It stuck in my mind because those Americanisms were unusual to us. But we knew what he meant.#DontGetMeStarted!”
Lawless portrayed the warrior Xena during the first season of the Sorbo-led Hercules. Her character quickly became a fan favorite, and the actress secured a spinoff, Xena: Warrior Princess. The show premiered in 1995 and was a critical and commercial success, earning high marks and viewership numbers. During the fantasy series’ six-season run, Sorbo appeared in two crossover episodes. Lawless and Sorbo also lent their voices to 1998’s Hercules and Xena – The Animated Movie: The Battle for Mount Olympus.
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While Lawless and Sorbo’s professional relationship resulted in successful television, their off-screen dynamic is marked by radically different political standings. And her Simpson anecdote isn’t the first time Lawless has taken aim at Sorbo, either. In 2021, Sorbo shared a picture of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, stating that the attackers were “leftist agitators disguised as Trump supporters…” and did not look like patriots. Lawless retorted:
“No, Peanut. They are not Patriots. They are your flying monkeys, homegrown terrorists, QAnon actors. They are the douchebags that go out and do the evil bidding of people like you who like to wind them up like toys and let them do their worst. #KeepingYourFilthyHandsClean #Enabler.”
Although the political discord between Lawless and Sorbo is very real, the actress recently opened up about the election’s possible repercussions on the marriage of one of her popular characters. From 2012 to 2014, Lawless appeared in a guest starring role on NBC’s Parks and Recreation as Diane Lewis, who eventually marries Nick Offerman’s Ron Swanson. During a recent interview, Lawless shared what she thought Diane and Ron may be up to now:
“I don’t know, getting out the vote, I guess! That would be interesting because Ron would be on this crazy libertarian attack and I wonder if he would be… That might break them up actually, this election in America.”
The 2024 Presidential election is off to a wacky start: possibly breaking up one of our favorite Parks and Recreation couples and making grown men forget that multiracial people exist.
