Soboroff Hypes LGBTQ Celebs Calling Flag 'A Violent Symbol Of Prejeduice'

Alex Christy
July 11th, 2026 2:20 PM

Text to Speech

00:00 00:00
Font Size

MS NOW’s Connect host Jacob Soboroff rewound the clock on Saturday to promote a short documentary called Reclaim the Flag that was released a year ago that featured several LGBTQ celebrities—some of whom were definitely more famous than others—talking about their views of the flag. Soboroff sat down with producer Alexis Bittar to discuss the film and play several soundbites that included claims to the flag as having “blood on it” and being a “violent symbol of prejudice and hate” and beliefs that people who fly the flag would kill them if they had the opportunity.

Soboroff kicked off the segment by declaring, “It is every country’s greatest and most visual and most recognized symbol. It is its flag. America's flag with the stars and stripes has been a symbol of freedom and unity and love of country since 1777. But over the years, our love for this country has been tested, especially for those who feel their own identity doesn't seem to love them back.”

 

 

He then hyped “The short documentary Reclaim the Flag, produced by Oscar winner Bruce Cohen and directed by jewelry designer and filmmaker Alexis Bittar, explores this through the lens of the LGBTQ community. It features well-known members of the community dissecting their own relationship with our country’s flag.”

The first montage showed actress Lena Waithe and actor Jim Parsons:

WAITHE: Depending on how the United States feels about you will depend on how you feel about the flag. [jump cut] If you feel like your people have been killed, wronged, been able to be seen as less than human under the flag, you're going to be triggered by it, but yet still be born under it.

PARSONS: I think that it's a very radical idea in today's climate to imagine going off, for a lot of people to die, for the unity of this country. How are we united? How are we united? What are we united about?

WAITHE: The American flag has blood on it. And it's drenched in it. I think that we can accept that or act as if it isn't true, and we can't change what we don't face.

Soboroff then returned to add, “This film doesn't end with a clear resolution, and that is the point. Some cautiously think about embracing the flag for the first time ever, or for the first time in a while, and others acknowledge the irony of being an American while also being marginalized by parts of their own country, and all seem to argue that something has got to give in order to take the flag back as a symbol of inclusivity.”

Not every clip Soboroff showed was as outrageous as Waithe and Parsons, but he was clearly excited to show the ones that were. Later, during his sit-down with Bittar, he introduced another clip, “You know, what's crazy is that, correct me if I'm wrong, but Trump's name doesn't actually come up in the film, right?... but he does—I mean, he certainly looms over it, I think. And the moment that we live in is very palpable. I want to play another portion of the association that so many people in the LGBTQ community have with this flag and, and how it relates to the symbol of unity. Let's watch this.

 

 

The clip package featured more flag bashing:

MARC JACOBS [fashion designer]: Why, when I see an American flag, do I think of, like, MAGA and right-wing? And why do I feel like it's a violent symbol of prejudice and hatred.

CHRIS KLEMENS [comedian]: I see someone hanging an American flag and I'm like, ‘You would hit me with a car if you had the opportunity.’

MATT BERNSTEIN [content creator/make-up artist]: If I'm, you know, if I'm on Grindr, right? And I see an American flag emoji in someone's bio. I think that is a Republican.

HUNTER CRENSHW [reality TV personality]: It's a negative thing to be, to see. And I and, you know, I've definitely had my fair share of talking [bleep] about it. But at the end of the day, there's something back here that still has a reverence.

Soboroff reacted by wondering, “I saw that you said around the time that you were making this film and sitting with the people that are in it that some people are even nervous to talk about the country. Why do you think that is?”

Bittar hinted that Trump had something to do with it, “We shot this in April of last year, and it was at a time when the government was really coming down on colleges, on institutions, about talking about America. So, I think everyone feels this kind of ominous threat of not wanting to be on the record or wanting attention to them, saying anything that's controversial about America. So it was difficult, actually, getting 50 people. We cast it in three weeks, so we had to get 50 people in three weeks to go on air and talk about it.”

As it turns out, none of the people in the film ever faced any repercussions from the government. In a properly functioning media, Soboroff would have wondered if that undermined all the America-bashing, but that is not what MS NOW exists for.

Here is a transcript for the July 11 show:

MS NOW Connect with Jacob Soboroff

7/11/2026

12:46 PM ET

JACOB SOBOROFF: It is every country’s greatest and most visual and most recognized symbol. It is its flag. America's flag with the stars and stripes has been a symbol of freedom and unity and love of country since 1777. But over the years, our love for this country has been tested, especially for those who feel their own identity doesn't seem to love them back. 

The short documentary Reclaim the Flag, produced by Oscar winner Bruce Cohen and directed by jewelry designer and filmmaker Alexis Bittar, explores this through the lens of the LGBTQ community. It features well known members of the community dissecting their own relationship with our country’s flag.

LENA WAITHE: Depending on how the United States feels about you will depend on how you feel about the flag. [jump cut] If you feel like your people have been killed, wronged, been able to be seen as less than human under the flag, you're going to be triggered by it, but yet still be born under it.

JIM PARSONS: I think that it's a very radical idea in today's climate to imagine going off, for a lot of people to die, for the unity of this country. How are we united? How are we united? What are we united about?

WAITHE: The American flag has blood on it. And it's drenched in it. I think that we can accept that or act as if it isn't true, and we can't change what we don't face.

SOBOROFF: This film doesn't end with a clear resolution, and that is the point. Some cautiously think about embracing the flag for the first time ever, or for the first time in a while, and others acknowledge the irony of being an American while also being marginalized by parts of their own country, and all seem to argue that something has got to give in order to take the flag back as a symbol of inclusivity.

…

SOBOROFF: You know, what's crazy is that, correct me if I'm wrong, but Trump's name doesn't actually come up in the film, right?

ALEXIS BITTAR: Yeah.

SOBOROFF: Yeah. And, but he does—I mean, he certainly looms over it, I think. And the moment that we live in is very palpable. I want to play another portion of the association that so many people in the LGBTQ community have with this flag and, and how it relates to the symbol of unity. Let's watch this.

MARC JACOBS: Why, when I see an American flag, do I think of, like, MAGA and right-wing? And why do I feel like it's a violent symbol of prejudice and hatred.

CHRIS KLEMENS: I see someone hanging an American flag and I'm like, “You would hit me with a car if you had the opportunity.”

MATT BERNSTEIN: If I'm, you know, if I'm on Grindr, right? And I see an American flag emoji in someone's bio. I think that is a Republican.

HUNTER CRENSHW: It's a negative thing to be, to see. And I and, you know, I've definitely had my fair share of talking [bleep] about it. But at the end of the day, there's something back here that still has a reverence.

SOBOROFF: I saw that you said around the time that you were making this film and sitting with the people that are in it that some people are even nervous to talk about the country. Why do you think that is?

BITTAR: We shot this in April of last year, and it was at a time when the government was really coming down on colleges, on institutions, about talking about America. So, I think everyone feels this kind of ominous threat of not wanting to be on the record or wanting attention to them, saying anything that's controversial about America. So it was difficult, actually, getting 50 people. We cast it in three weeks, so we had to get 50 people—

SOBOROFF: Wow.

BITTAR: —in three weeks to go on air and talk about it.

Donor Privacy Policy