Hollywood Star CALLS OUT Newsom’s Gas Blame Game…

When a former sitcom star tells the governor of the largest state to “get out of our city” over gas prices, you are not just watching celebrity drama; you are watching a referendum on who Americans actually blame when everything suddenly costs more.

Story Snapshot

California Governor Gavin Newsom urged drivers to avoid Chevron over Memorial Day, blaming “Big Oil” for punishing prices at the pump.
Actress Justine Bateman fired back publicly, shredding his press office and calling for Newsom’s removal from office.^[1]
Critics argue Sacramento’s own taxes, regulations, and spending scandals, not Chevron, are choking California families.^[4]^[5]^[6]
The clash exposes a deeper fight over whether politicians can keep scapegoating corporations instead of fixing their own policies.

How a Holiday Weekend Gas Tip Became a Political Flashpoint

California drivers planning Memorial Day road trips woke up to their governor effectively saying, “Whatever you do, do not buy Chevron.” The message framed Chevron and “Big Oil” as gleeful price-gougers, and it came not as a casual aside but as an official tone-setter from Gavin Newsom’s bully pulpit. For ordinary families, already watching triple-digit grocery runs and shrinking retirement accounts, this was not economics; it was a live-action blame game at the pump.

Social media did what it always does with a blunt government order: it dissected, mocked, and ratioed it. Newsom’s press shop pushed the Chevron line, and the replies filled with charts, memes, and Californians posting actual receipts of state fuel taxes and fees.^[3]^[5] The reaction captured a broader fatigue: many people do not want another lecture about faceless corporations when they can literally see Sacramento taking a big slice of every gallon on the pump sticker.

Justine Bateman RIPS Gov. Newsom's 'Press Office' a New You-Know-What Over Call to Boycott Chevronhttps://t.co/9nj9K1GnKb

Jumpin Jerk Newsom,
He’s so gruesome.

— gtslade (@gtslade) May 22, 2026

Justine Bateman’s Rebuttal: From “Family Ties” to Political Fury

Justine Bateman, best known from “Family Ties,” decided she was done watching Hollywood stay politely on-brand with California’s political class. She blasted Newsom’s handling of crises before, accusing him of “dereliction of care for the citizens of California” and saying he “needs to be removed, before something worse happens here.”^[1] When the Chevron boycott message arrived, she tore into his press office, accusing them of spin instead of accountability.

Bateman’s criticism tracked a simple conservative instinct: if leaders cannot handle fundamentals like fires, affordability, or infrastructure, they should not distract voters with corporate villains. She hammered the idea that Californians pay these officials “to cover the basics” and that they have not done the job.^[1] That resonates with anyone who remembers when middle-class life in the state did not require a spreadsheet, a side hustle, and a therapist just to fill up the minivan and pay the electric bill on time.

Is Chevron the Villain, or Is Sacramento Dodging Its Own Bill?

California’s own energy and air regulators explain, quite openly, that gasoline prices reflect not only crude oil and refining but also layered state taxes, climate fees, and boutique fuel requirements that make the state’s gas different and more expensive than most of the country.^[5]^[6] That does not absolve Chevron from scrutiny, but it undercuts the fairy tale that a single brand is secretly setting every painful price sign from Eureka to San Diego. The state designed a costly system, then acts shocked when it costs people real money.

Meanwhile, Newsom’s broader record feeds conservative suspicion that he points at corporations to avoid looking in the mirror. Townhall reports California burned through roughly twenty-three million dollars on a pediatric hearing aid program that delivered only a few hundred devices.^[4] Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has mocked Newsom as “economically illiterate,” suggesting he chases elite applause abroad while California wrestles with fiscal, housing, and homelessness crises at home.^[2] The pattern: spend big, under-deliver, then find a convenient villain.

Why This Fight Matters Far Beyond One Governor and One Gas Brand

This is not just a California quarrel; it is a preview of how national leaders may talk about every hard tradeoff in a high-cost, climate-focused economy. Politicians can either admit that policies raise prices and defend those choices honestly, or they can blame companies and “greed” every time voters feel the bill. Conservative common sense says adults do not get to run up the tab and then yell at the waiter for the total. Yet much of our political class keeps trying that trick anyway.

Bateman’s eruption struck a nerve because it flipped the usual script. A Hollywood figure refused to join the ritual of blaming “Big Oil” and instead demanded competence from the people actually in charge. Whether you agree with her or not, the core question she raises is deadly serious: if leaders can always point to a corporation when their policies bite, will they ever face the pressure needed to change course? Or will you just keep paying more while they keep changing the subject?