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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteSlate writer Dan Kois’s September 8, 2023, essay about Martin Short’s comedic style drew public responses from several actors and entertainers, including Ben Stiller, Mark Hamill, Michael McKean, J. Smith-Cameron, and John Cusack. Their posts praised Short or poked fun at the essay. The episode was a visible social-media wave of support—not evidence of a coordinated, Hollywood-wide uproar.
What did the journalist say about Martin Short?
Kois’s essay was titled “Why We Keep Putting Up With Martin Short.” Coverage described it as a critique of Short’s comedic career and his exaggerated characters. The Independent reproduced this passage from Kois’s essay:
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“Throughout his evolution from sketch-comedy standout to uneasy movie star to twice-failed talk-show host to enthusiastic song-and-dance man, I’ve wrinkled my nose. Every time he dresses up in a silly outfit or says something outrageous or mugs for the audience, I want to shout at the screen: Why are you being like this?”
That was Kois’s personal reaction to a performance style built around heightened characters, outrageous behavior, and mugging for an audience. It was an opinion essay, not a factual finding about Short’s talent or how viewers generally respond to him. The Independent’s September 11, 2023, report reproduced the excerpt; Variety’s coverage summarized the essay’s criticism.
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Who responded, and what did they say?
Variety reported individual posts from five entertainment figures on September 8 and 9, 2023. These were separate reactions, not a joint statement.
- Ben Stiller wrote, “Martin Short is a comedic genius. End o story.”
- Mark Hamill posted, “Hard to believe people are actually debating whether or not Martin Short is funny. Newsflash: He is HILARIOUS.”
- Michael McKean joked, “Guy really blew the lid off of the whole Martin Short story, didn’t he?”
- J. Smith-Cameron said the article’s clips and references showed characters the writer found annoying, but were “so entertaining that the article is a valentine in spite of itself.”
- John Cusack praised Short’s Mr. Rogers boxing-match bit, calling it his favorite.
Stiller’s wording above preserves Variety’s rendering of his post. Cusack’s post was reported with irregular capitalization; the summary here avoids treating that transcription as a verified exact quotation. Variety’s September 11 report attributes the responses to the named posters.
Why did the essay draw a defense of Short?
The disagreement was about taste: Kois objected to Short’s broad, high-energy comic persona, while the responding performers publicly praised that same style or treated the essay’s premise as comic in itself. Smith-Cameron’s post made the latter point directly, suggesting that the examples Kois found irritating could read as a tribute to Short’s entertainment value.
The Independent described clips from Short’s work being shared alongside supportive posts and reported that he was the top trending topic on X/Twitter at the time of its September 9 coverage. That is a contemporaneous report of a platform ranking, not a current trend or a quantified measure of how many people took part.
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Was it really a Hollywood-wide uproar?
The reports establish a conspicuous cluster of public reactions from named actors and entertainers. They do not quantify the response, show that it represented Hollywood as a whole, or document a coordinated campaign. “Uproar” is therefore best understood as a headline characterization of the social-media attention, not a measured industry-wide reaction.
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When did the exchange happen?
- September 8, 2023: Slate published Kois’s essay; Variety dates McKean’s response to that day.
- September 9, 2023: Variety dates posts by Stiller, Hamill, Smith-Cameron, and Cusack to this day.
- September 11, 2023: Variety and The Independent published reports about the responses.
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