Exclusive | Sean Penn, Robert De Niro lead Hollywood A-listers lining up behind lefty Eric Swalwell’s bid for California governor

Hollywood’s woke donor class has a new favorite: Eric Swalwell.

The lefty congressman has raked in more than $100,000 from entertainment industry donors as he eyes a run for California governor, The California Post has learned.

Democrat Swalwell, whose district in the East Bay is a few hundred miles north of Los Angeles, has hauled in the most money from entertainment industry players among hopefuls to replace term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom this year, a Post review of campaign records shows.

Donors included “One Battle After Another” star Sean Penn, who tossed $15,000 into Swalwell’s campaign coffers, the records show.

A-list actors Robert De Niro and Jon Hamm pitched in $10,000 apiece, as did “Two and a Half Men” star Jon Cryer.

The late actor and director Rob Reiner also contributed $10,000 before his tragic death.

Swalwell caught heat after it was revealed that he’d missed more House floor votes last year than any other fellow member of Congress – and some of the absences involved the pol hanging out with the rich and famous.

The congressman missed votes in February to attend the premiere of HBO’s “White Lotus” in Los Angeles.

The hit show’s producer, David Bernad, donated a combined $20,000, along with producers Shawn Ryan of “The Night Agent” and Alex Baskin of “Vanderpump Rules” and “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.”

D-list comedian Kathy Griffin gave $10,000, while Bryan Lourd, CEO of Creative Artists Agency, rounded out the crowd of Hollywood heavyweights backing Swalwell with a $12,500 contribution.

Other A-listers, including iconic actress Jane Fonda, were among those who showered Swalwell’s fellow gubernatorial contenders with cash.

Experts said La La Land movers and shakers have many reasons to shell out the big bucks to back the Golden State’s next governor.

“The Hollywood types have issues. For one thing, AI has thrown the Hollywood people into a tizzy, because they fear that AI will basically replace them,” said Larry Gerston, professor emeritus of political science at San Jose State University.

Hollywood has been fleeing the state for fiscally greener pastures, even as a desperate Newsom took steps last summer to double California’s film and TV tax credit program from $330 million to $750 million per year.

The changing model of content distribution to tech-aligned platforms like Netflix, as well as other states rolling out tax credit red carpet, have raised the stakes for who takes over from him as California governor, Gerston said. 

“There are three issues right there that Hollywood types are going to look at when it comes to these candidates and ask, ‘Do these people represent me and my art?’” Gerston said.

Former Rep. Katie Porter was running in second in courting Hollywood royalty, with Fonda giving her $7,600 and actress Rene Russo and legendary TV producer Marcy Carsey donating a combined $20,000.

“You can see there is interest there from women and women’s issues,” Gerston said.

In a contribution that may be a bit on the nose, Porter — who made headlines last year after a video leaked of her cursing out a staffer — also got a $5,000 check from David Mandel, executive producer of the HBO show “Veep” whose potty-mouthed lead character Selina Meyer, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, frequently harangued her aides.

Former Rep. Xavier Becerra, who also served as California attorney general and as US secretary of health and human services under President Joe Biden, already had a star-studded donor list before he announced a run to succeed Newsom. 

He notched $5,400 contributions each from Academy Award-winning director Steven Spielberg and Dreamworks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg when he was still serving in the House of Representatives in 2016.

Antonio VIllaraigosa, the former mayor of Los Angeles, had a surprising lack of star power in his campaign filings beyond a handful of producers.

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Betty Yee, the former state controller, listed just one entertainer in her campaign filings: $210 from Mimi Kennedy, the actress who played the mother of Jenna Elfman’s character in the ABC sitcom “Dharma & Greg.” 

On the Republican side, frontrunners Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco didn’t report any Hollywood money.

But Hilton did get an interesting $39,200 contribution from crypto billionaire Chris Larsen, who was also supporting Porter’s candidacy. Hilton also gave his own campaign a loan of almost $191,000.

That was chump change compared to prominent Democrat hedge funder Tom Steyer, the billionaire environmentalist, who plunked down $28 million into his own campaign.

A new round of campaign filings are due Monday, and Gerston predicts more Los Angeles stars “will rev up” spending as the June primary election approaches. 

But that might not guarantee voters will follow their lead.

“It’s hard for people to hear this sometimes, because we all have this image, but endorsements rarely make a difference — even from Hollywood types,” Gerston said.