Do we like Martin Short?
Our score: 8 out of 10. Decades of decent public conduct, no harmful words or company found, and warm tributes from colleagues; he just hasn't made much of a cause of anything.
On the scandal front, the cupboard is bare. We searched for lawsuits, convictions, settlements and accusations and found nothing credible against him. The biggest stoush in recent memory was in 2023, when a Slate op-ed slammed his comedy as exhausting, and half of Hollywood piled in to defend him. Ben Stiller called him “a comedic genius”, and Mark Hamill posted a tribute to his characters.
On the harm check, we found no slurs, culture-war grifting, conspiracy theories or anti-vax talk from him, and no sign he's been working with people who push that stuff. We didn't find anything specific from him on LGBTQ+ rights either way, so he passes on absence of harm rather than on a loud record of advocacy. We also couldn't find climate or vaccine statements, so that's a gap, not a tick.
His politics, when they surface, point away from the grievance crowd. In a 2018 interview he said “There’s nothing credible about Donald Trump.” He and Steve Martin have said they keep Trump out of their shared stage show so audiences don't feel judged. In January 2026 he reportedly weighed in on Trump's threats toward Canada, his native country, and used a Kimmel appearance to rib the host.
The good stuff is mostly about how people talk of him. Tom Hanks says he's “doing it to have a blast”, and Eugene Levy says you don't realise how much energy it takes to do what he does. Short paid warm tribute to the late Catherine O'Hara as a friend who was kinder and less self-centred than the rest of the SCTV crew. He's also lent his name to charity, appearing on NBC's Red Nose Day in 2015.
The honest gap is that the record is mostly entertainment coverage, so we can't tell you about every private act of kindness or every opinion he holds. But across decades in the public eye, the pattern is of a hard worker who's loved by his peers. In 2026 he told the Canadian Press he can't imagine stopping work, and fans will be glad of that.