Overview

Sean Baker Twitter Likes Discourse, also known as Sean Baker X Following Controversy, refers to online discussions speculating about American director Sean Baker's politics, which heightened after his film Anora won several Oscars during the 2025 Academy Awards. Sean Baker, known for depicting marginalized communities in films like Tangerine and The Florida Project, became the subject of online speculation and discourse after film buffs on Twitter / X noted that he had "liked" tweets defending Kyle Rittenhouse and followed accounts like Libs of TikTok on his personal Twitter. Discussions about Sean Baker's politics continued into March 2025, with some internet users defending him by saying that he may be observing some internet communities for research and that follows and likes on social media cannot be taken as endorsements, while other internet users took his online activity as confirmation of his supposedly conservative beliefs.

Background

Discussions about Sean Baker's internet activity can be traced back to 2021 when internet users learned that the director had "liked" tweets made in defense of Kyle Rittenhouse that were posted by controversial figures such as politician Tulsi Gabbard and political commentator Tim Pool.

Some early screenshots can be found in a November 20th, 2021, Twitter^[1][2] thread by user @ethanves that read, "🎶 Guess who’s going to A24 social media jail tonight 🎶." The post gathered over 1,000 likes in four years.

Developments

More internet users noted that Sean Baker liked several tweets perceived by some as pro-Israel in 2024, as seen in screenshots posted by X^[2] user @thewstside in a July 15th, 2024, post that received roughly 1,700 views in eight months.

Other internet users noted that Sean Baker followed conservative Twitter accounts like Libs of TikTok, as seen in a July 28th, 2024, tweet by X^[3] user @blakexxxo.

By mid-2024, several internet users had come to the conclusion that Sean Baker's internet history is representative of his political beliefs, as seen in a June 26th, 2024, tweet by user @imperatorbolin.^[5] However, other internet users pushed back against this characterization of the filmmaker, as seen in a June 26th post by Twitter user @PoorOldRoloTony.^[4]

Online Reactions

In March 2025, Sean Baker's film Anora won a number of Academy Awards, including "Best Director" and "Best Actress." The film's Oscar sweep prompted renewed memes and discussions about Sean Baker's politics, especially from internet users who believed that The Substance deserved to win those categories instead.

On February 24th, 2025, in the weeks leading up to the Oscars, X^[6] user @WillSloanEsq tweeted, "Sean Baker following 5,000,000 accounts with names like 'Libs Getting Owned' and 'The Israel Respecter' and 'The Kyle Rittenhouse Innocent Project' while also not saying a single cancellable thing across a grueling six-month Oscar campaign has driven thousands of people insane." The post gathered 20,000 likes in a week.

X^[7] user @Meaningbird quoted a quote tweet of the post to share a screenshot of Sean Baker following an account named "5/10 zoomer girls." The post gathered over 3,000 likes in a week.

On March 2nd, 2025, X^[8] user @elDani1400 made a post that criticized Baker's Oscar win, gathering over 120,000 likes in two days.

Also on March 2nd, X^[9] user @Cruisetacular posted a GIF caption meme using the Cristiano Ronaldo Winning an Award format alongside text that read, "Sean Baker accepting his best director Oscar: I’d like to thank Israel and Kyle Rittenhouse / The Isis beheading squad Conan hired coming to the stage." The post gathered over 5,000 likes in two days.

On March 3rd, 2025, X^[10] user @cj_prin posted a meme that read, "Man Always Gets Little Rush Out Of Telling People Sean Baker Liked Right Wing Tweets," gathering over 6,000 likes in a day.

Search Interest

External References