In accepting his Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy, actor Christian Bale thanked the usual people — as well as Satan for inspiring him to portray former Vice President Dick Cheney.
As Fox News reports, Bale had plenty of praise for his wife, Sibi Blazic, for helping him play Cheney in the film “Vice,” but also for the devil.
“Thank you Satan for giving me the inspiration to play this role,” he told the crowd.
Actor Christian Bale attends The 22nd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Auditorium on Jan. 30, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Turner)
Bale further mused that he was “cornering the market on charisma-free a—holes … What do we think, Mitch McConnell next?”
Cheney’s daughter, Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, did not find the remarks appropriate. (RELATED: Liz Cheney Fires Back After Bernie Sanders Angered Over Her Attack On Socialism)
She cited a July 2008 article from The Independent that detailed Bale’s arrest for the alleged assault of his mother and sister, and commented, “Satan probably inspired him to do this, too.”
The put-down stands in stark contrast to Bale’s assessment of Cheney in a recent Fox News interview, where the British actor spoke glowingly of the former vice president who played an active role in the presidency of George W. Bush.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney speaks at the Sunshine Summit opening dinner at Disney’s Contemporary Resort on Nov. 12, 2015 in Orlando, Fla. (Photo by Tom Benitez – Pool/Getty Images)
“He was a wonderful family man — he’s a great dad, he’s an avid reader, he has a brain like a vice and he constantly reads history,” Bale told Fox News when “Vice” premiered back in December. “He was very laid-back. He would have been very happy to be a lineman in Wyoming if he hadn’t met Lynne, who said to him, ‘No, that doesn’t cut it. You need some ambition.’ What would have been if they hadn’t met?” (RELATED: The New Movie About Dick Cheney Made A Surprising Amount Of Money At The Box Office)
But Bale has found dubious fans in The Church of Satan, a California temple that has been linked with all manner of conspiracy theories over the years. In Sunday night tweet, the Satanic enclave could barely contain their enthusiasm, tweeting, “Hail Christian! Hail Satan!”
To us, Satan is a symbol of pride, liberty and individualism, and it serves as an external metaphorical projection of our highest personal potential. As Mr. Bale’s own talent and skill won him the award, this is fitting. Hail Christian! Hail Satan! https://t.co/ILuK8TFZXi
— The Church Of Satan (@ChurchofSatan) January 7, 2019