After Terrifier 3 actor David Thornton Howard spoke out against US President Donald Trump and his supporters on social media, director Damien Leone has responded.
Howard, who plays Art the Clown in the movie, has been a critic of Trump and his adviser, Elon Musk, on Threads. His comments have involved accusing the President of being on the verge of starting World War 3, while Lauren LaVera, who plays Sienna Shaw, has also criticised Trump.
Howard urged Tesla, of which Musk is CEO, to “oust him,” accused Trump of having made the US “less safe,” and made comparisons between the US in 2025 and 1930s Germany.
In his most recent Threads post, he wrote: “I’m ok. Just taking a mental break from the ensuing madness of the world right now. Thanks for the support.”
His remarks have proved controversial, attracting criticism from Trump supporters. And following both his and LaVera’s comments, Leone wrote in a statement: “As most of you know, some of my cast and crew members have a very passionate political presence on social media with extreme and sometimes harsh opinions which is their right. I’m all for freedom of speech and expression.
“That being said, Terrifier is NOT in any way shape or form a political franchise. I did not get into filmmaking to become a politician or promote any political agendas or ideologies, especially through a killer clown movie. I fell in love with horror movies as a form of pure entertainment and those are the films I like to make.”
Hopefully I never have to bring up politics publicly ever again but this desperately needed to be said on behalf of the Terrifier franchise
pic.twitter.com/b7soIj9P33
— Damien Leone (@damienleone) February 3, 2025
He went on to explain that the cast and crew involved with the Terrifier series has consisted of people from across the political spectrum, and that anyone who’s a “decent human being” is welcome to be a part of the series or be a fan.
He finished: “If this doesn’t sit well with any fans or cast/crew members that is your right and I respect it. You don’t have to buy a ticket and you don’t have to work on these films. Thank you and I recommend you don’t let toxic rhetoric on either side of the political spectrum deter you from being a Terrifier fan.”
Terrifier fans had plenty to say in response, with some criticising him for supposedly “playing both sides.”
One fan said: “I feel this is in response to some of the LGBTQ advocacy that DHT has been standing up for lately on his platform, which would not make this response a great look … I love you and DHT and the whole crew but right now this response will only do more damage than good and cause a rift between the Terrifier community.”
Leone replied, saying: “It’s definitely not since I agree with his stance on that. Who do you think hires all of our LGBTQ cast and crew members? They are loved, respected and encouraged to work with us.”
A fourth Terrifier movie is on the way, meanwhile, and Leone has said that it will offer a conclusion and origin story for Art the Clown, though we don’t have a release date yet. The third movie came out in cinemas on October 11 last year, and was a success, grossing around $90million on a $2million budget.
It courted its fair share of controversy, however. France banned anyone under 18 from seeing the movie – the first time the country’s done so since Saw III in 2006 – while Signature Entertainment, the film’s UK distributor, revealed that 11 people had walked out of the UK premiere, with one person vomiting after viewing the movie.
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