Actor and longtime gun advocate Tom Selleck stepped down from his role on the NRA's board of directors, Reuters reported Wednesday. Selleck, who stars on CBS's Blue Bloods alongside Donnie Wahlberg and Bridget Moynahan, was a member of the board since 2005. He was in the middle of his three-year term after being re-elected to the board in 2017.
Selleck's publicist Annett Wolf told Reuters the 73-year-old's decision to step down from the board had nothing to do with matters of gun policy, but rather his work schedule was preventing him from being an active member. "Tom Selleck has stepped down from the board of the NRA due to his work schedule," Wolf said, adding the actor "remains a member of the NRA."
In a separate interview with The Trace, a non-profit website that covers gun control, policy and violence, Wolf said Selleck "has nothing to do with policy" for the gun rights group. "He's never been active on the board or anything the NRA engages in. He almost always [has] been a silent board member," Wolf said.
Despite being a silent board member, Selleck has made major contributions to the association including several rifle and revolver donations from his many action movie roles, which are currently on display at the NRA's National Firearms Museum.
Selleck famously stood up to Rosie O'Donnell when he appeared on her talk show in 1999. Selleck was promoting The Love Letter a month after assault rifles were used to kill 13 people and injured 21 students at Columbine High School. "Why the NRA wouldn't say as a matter of compromise, 'We agree, assault weapons are not good?'" she asked.
Selleck responded he couldn't answer the question because he couldn't speak for the NRA, to which O'Donnell argued that he was their spokesperson so he should be held responsible for what the gun lobbying group said. "I'm not a spokesperson. Remember how calm you said you'd be? Now you're questioning my humanity," Selleck shot back.
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