During Donald Trump’s first term, it was trendy, and even lucrative, to stand up to him, so much so that Mr. Trump often felt less like a president than a punchline.

It clearly got to the thin-skinned president, who wants to be the hugest, most adored celebrity in the world. But this time around, I’ve watched many of our most public voices face consequences that once seemed unthinkable.

I’ve texted with the journalist Don Lemon after he spent a night in jail. I’ve witnessed “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” on which some of the funniest people I know have worked, be brought to an unnatural end. The crown jewel of television journalism, “60 Minutes,” has all but imploded in the face of allegations of politically motivated interference.

This is what a less-free America looks like.

It’s true that Mr. Trump has had a bad couple of weeks, what with his green Reflecting Pool and his embarrassing loss in a war that he started. But if you want a sure sign that he still has an iron grip on this country, look no further than the way some of this country’s most prominent celebrities — who once had no problem denouncing Mr. Trump — have fallen silent.

Last year, Selena Gomez, a grandchild of undocumented immigrants, posted a tearful Instagram story about how “all my people are getting attacked,” in reference to the administration’s immigration policy. She was swarmed with internet hate — notably from Piers Morgan and some popular, anonymous right-wing accounts — and quickly deleted her post. Political speeches aimed at the administration have been largely absent from major Hollywood awards shows, and even “Saturday Night Live” seems to have gone soft on Mr. Trump.

The once-outspoken actress Jennifer Lawrence explained her view on politics these days to The Times: “Celebrities do not make a difference whatsoever on who people vote for. So then what am I doing? I’m just sharing my opinion on something that’s going to add fuel to a fire that’s ripping the country apart.” Many of her peers seem to have adopted the same approach. Lately, it seems that the far-right commentator Tucker Carlson seems to be speaking up louder against Mr. Trump than any of #Resistance crowd.

I saw this dynamic at work when I stood on the red carpet before the Tony Awards this month, interviewing actors about — among many things — their political views. I could feel the fear. The celebrities I spoke to were clearly worried that the views they had advertised just a few years earlier could cause them to be on the wrong side of a MAGA internet mob or a Brendan Carr call-out or a profitable film franchise’s hiring decisions. If they mentioned politics at all, they would gingerly nibble around its edges.

Kelly Ripa talked about education. Mark Ballas, of “Dancing With the Stars” fame, told me he was “not here to talk about politics.” Some actors tried to be bold, mentioning L.G.B.T.Q. rights in particular, but they didn’t really criticize the Republicans who are attacking those rights. There was a lot of opining on freedom but not a lot of outrage directed at those who want to take that freedom away.

In a world where legacy media brands have less influence or are losing their independence, and where celebrities and influencers have more cultural power than ever before, MAGA wants liberal celebrities to be too afraid to speak up, so that Mr. Trump can be the only true star. When Mr. Trump’s authoritarianism is all but underwritten by well-liked public figures and all but ignored by others, its toxic tenets start to look like politics as usual. If Americans begin to accept as normal that it’s just too risky to speak up, then something fundamental has changed in our country, for the worse.

Celebrity resistance is sometimes mocked as trivial. After all, ordinary people, in Minneapolis especially, have found the courage to stand up against the government’s overreach. At least two — Alex Pretti and Renee Good — have died while doing so. Their actions make a speech on an awards show stage seem frivolous by comparison. Who cares what actors or pop stars think about politics?

The president does. Celebrities are the only people who can dominate the algorithm with the same power as him, making them best poised to undermine the president’s otherwise overwhelming messaging. We look to our cultural figures to show us how to fight back against the pressure to stay silent, to give us the words to say that what we’re seeing isn’t normal. When speaking up actually means risking something, for once, it is more necessary than ever.

So what would resistance from those Americans who have the most cultural power really look like? The best example I have is from my grandfather, Howard Fast. He was not only the author of “Spartacus” and “April Morning” and scores of books no one can remember, he also risked his career to stand up to Joseph McCarthy. He went from being, quite literally, the Voice of America (he was an early writer for the broadcaster) to being held in contempt of Congress and then sent to Mill Point Federal Prison in West Virginia.

You see, Grandpa was involved in a charity which raised money for refugees of the Spanish Civil War and antifascist fighters from across Europe; he refused to turn over a list of Spanish Republicans the organization had helped. Grandpa Howie was absolutely a Communist, but his political beliefs should not have been a crime. He didn’t believe that the United States government would send him to prison for them.

As he wrote in his memoir, “There were no troops of brownshirts prowling our streets, and while some people who had been close to us withdrew from us, it was never an act of hostility.” He ultimately fared much better than most of his comrades — Pablo Neruda wrote a not-very-good poem about him, and after three months, he was released from prison. He was not the only celebrity who was punished in these times — Dalton Trumbo, Ring Lardner Jr. and Albert Maltz were too. Artists were jailed and ordinary people lost their jobs.

The point of it all was that when the government overreached, he pushed back against it, believing the principles of America would in the end withstand the efforts of those who would pervert them. In doing so, he perhaps gave others the courage to do so as well. I was thinking about him toward the end of my night on the red carpet, when I was truly starting to despair. Was there really no one with courage?

Then, with a new face and the same old gleeful crankiness, Rosie O’Donnell appeared. She told me she was coming back to America to do a one-woman show, and — despite having fled to Ireland upon Mr. Trump’s election to a second term — said she’s not afraid at all. Later, she texted me, “It’s the duty of all Americans to speak out against this fascist criminal administration — free speech — use it or lose it.”