Stephen King Asks Why Billy Bob Thornton’s ‘Landman’ Was Snubbed—X Blames Politics

Adriana Stone 0 2 min read

Stephen King Asks Why Billy Bob Thornton’s ‘Landman’ Was Snubbed—X Blames Politics

Stephen King wanted to know why Landman was left without major Emmy nominations. His question quickly drew blunt responses on X, where users argued that the Paramount+ series’ pro-oil themes, skepticism toward green energy, and criticism of electric vehicles made it a poor fit for Hollywood’s awards culture.

King specifically mentioned Billy Bob Thornton and director Stephen Kay when he posted about the 2026 Emmy awards.

Several X users offered a simple answer: yes, politics may be the reason. They argued that the show’s conservative outlook made it a poor fit for an industry known for left-leaning activism.

One X response compared Landman with Yellowstone, another conservative-leaning series that has also never received an Emmy nomination. Another user pointed directly to the show’s treatment of environmental policy.

“exposes ‘Green’ initiatives for the lies they are.”

“Yes, it’s political,” the X user added. “Are you really that big of a fool not to see it?”

The debate became even more concrete when users pointed to a widely shared scene featuring Thornton’s character. In the scene, he delivers a long argument about the hidden costs of wind turbines, electric vehicles, solar panels, and the infrastructure required for a fully electric economy.

“Do you have any idea how much diesel they have to burn to mix that much concrete?”

“Or make that steel and haul this s*** out here and put it together with a 450-foot crane? You want to guess how much oil it takes to lubricate that f***ing thing or winterize it?”

“In its 20-year lifespan, it won’t offset the carbon footprint of making it,”

“And don’t get me started on solar panels and the lithium in your Tesla battery. And never mind the fact that if the whole world decided to go electric tomorrow, we don’t have the transmission lines to get the electricity to the cities. It’d take 30 years if we started tomorrow.”

That monologue became the centerpiece of the political argument surrounding the show. Supporters see it as a rare example of a popular series challenging green-energy assumptions instead of repeating them. Critics, meanwhile, see the scene as precisely the kind of message that makes Landman unwelcome in Hollywood’s awards conversation.

One X user summed up that view in a short response to King:

“Remember that monologue he did about the green energy scam. There’s your answer.”

A July report in Complex also noted that the show “walked away from the 2026 Emmy nominations without a single major nomination, extending one of television’s strangest streaks.”

“Billy Bob Thornton, Sam Elliott, and the series itself were all shut out, even after Landman entered awards season with momentum from SAG recognition, Critics’ Choice attention, Golden Globe buzz, and its first major industry win at the ACM Honors,”

That report gives the debate more context than a single social-media complaint. According to the source, Landman entered awards season with recognition from several industry groups, yet Thornton, Sam Elliott, and the series itself were still left out of the major Emmy nominations.

King asked whether politics played a role. The X responses argued that the show’s politics are exactly why it was passed over. The contrast is hard to miss: a high-profile author publicly asked why a show with conservative themes was overlooked, then received replies saying he should already understand why those themes might count against the show in the entertainment establishment.

Whether viewers agree with the monologue or not, the Emmy discussion has turned Landman into something larger than an awards-season omission. It is now another fight over which ideas Hollywood is willing to celebrate—and which ones it would rather keep off the stage.

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