How Comedy Helped Bring Down Joe McCarthy and the Hollywood Black List

Being the Ricardos might have taken some liberties with the facts (one historian we know says J. Edgar Hoover calling into a taping of I Love Lucy was “utter bullshit”), but Desi Arnaz did indeed take the stage in 1953 to defend “my favorite wife, my favorite redhead. In fact, that’s the only thing red about her. And even that’s not legitimate!”

In the 1950s, Lucille Ball was just one of America’s comedy stars who found themselves labeled “red,” a supposed sympathizer with the Communist party and therefore an insidious enemy of the United States. It was more than a slur. Whether it was the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) or Senator Joseph McCarthy, painting a Hollywood actor with a crimson brush effectively ended careers. Let’s look at how hysterical lawmakers targeted some of America’s biggest comedy stars — and how comedy fought back.

How Comedy Helped Bring Down Joe McCarthy and the Hollywood Black List