Ben Stiller: Comedy Faces Challenges; WSJ Innovator

The Wall Street Journal named Ben Stiller its entertainment Innovator as he returns to acting after a period focused on producing, including the Apple TV documentary Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost and executive-producing the Emmy-winning drama Severance. While promoting his documentary, he warned comedy is in a "challenging" moment — which he ties to the political climate during Donald Trump’s second term — and urged comedians to keep taking risks and to "speak truth to power." He pointed to recent industry flashpoints, notably Disney/ABC’s brief suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which he publicly criticized, and said social media and shrinking attention spans are additional pressures on modern comedy. Stiller said he resisted calls to remove Donald Trump’s cameo from Zoolander as an example of preserving works that reflect real moments in time. Across interviews and public posts he has defended fellow comics and positioned himself as a longtime advocate for comedy’s role in holding power to account.