Elizabeth Warren's Star Support Criticized Evan McGlinn for The New York Times Elizabeth Warren is challenging Scott P. Brown in Massachusetts. Cher says: "She makes an unbelievable impression." BOSTON - Elizabeth Warren may be running for the United States Senate in Massachusetts, but her campaign is getting deep support 3,000 miles away in California, where the other day, Cher was speaking glowingly of Ms. Warren's candidacy. "She makes an unbelievable impression," Cher said in an interview from Malibu, explaining that she had become a fan after watching some of Ms. Warren's speeches about economic injustice on YouTube. I'm just thrilled every time I can hear the woman speak. Nearly 20 percent of Ms. Warren's itemized donations (those over $200) in the last quarter of 2011 came from California, where a number of actors and others in the entertainment industry are fired up about her race against a first-term senator, Scott P. Brown, to reclaim for Democrats the seat long held by Edward M. Kennedy. And Mr. Brown is seeking to use their enthusiasm against her. Last Wednesday - the day before Skip Brittenham, an entertainment lawyer, and Heather Thomas, an actress, held a $500- to-$5,000-per-ticket fund-raiser for Ms. Warren at their home in Santa Monica - the Massachusetts Republican Party released a Web video in the style of an old movie trailer, with an announcer proclaiming, "Hollywood has a new "It Girl" - Hollywood has fallen for Elizabeth Warren big-time." The black-and-white video, called "The Elitist," labels Ms. Warren the "biggest hypocrite in a political campaign" for raising money from wealthy celebrities while supporting populist causes. Ms. Warren, a Harvard law professor, built a national reputation in recent years as a dogged consumer advocate, testifying before Congress on economic issues and setting up the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The Brown campaign has mocked not only Ms. Warren's Hollywood support, but the considerable amount of money she has raised outside Massachusetts in general, arguing that Mr. Brown is the more authentic, homegrown candidate. About 61 percent of Ms. Warren's itemized donations in the last quarter came from out of state - about $1.68 million out of a total $2.75 million. Of Mr. Brown's total $2.26 million in contributions for the quarter, 35 percent, or $790,913, came from outside Massachusetts. But while New York, New Jersey and the District of Columbia were also among the top sources of itemized donations to Ms. Warren - and while her California donations came from all over the state - it is Hollywood that the Brown campaign has seized on as particular proof that Ms. Warren does not deserve election in Massachusetts. It is, after all, a friendly place to high-profile Democrats, whose relationship with Hollywood has been fodder for Republicans over the years. Former President Bill Clinton, in particular, drew barbs for his friendships with Barbra Streisand, the producer David Geffen and the like. If the scholarly Ms. Warren seems a less likely idol for Democratic activists in Hollywood, think again. Last fall, in a statement to Politico, Ms. Streisand, who contributed $2,500 in September, described Ms. Warren as the "one new, consistent and strong voice that has broken through the oftentimes murky and ineffectual cacophony about the economic problems facing our nation." Danny DeVito last month posted a link to a Warren speech on Twitter, where Cher has also posted enthusiastically about her: "Elizabeth Warren is my hero!" she posted in December. Love u E. Bill Carrick, a Democratic consultant in Los Angeles, said Californians were so excited about Ms. Warren in part because the late Senator Kennedy, whose seat Mr. Brown captured in a 2010 special election after Mr. Kennedy died, was popular there. "Having it be Senator Kennedy's seat almost leads to people really wanting to be helpful," Mr. Carrick said. Other donors from the entertainment industry include Mr. DeVito ($2,500), his wife, Rhea Perlman ($2,500), the studio executive Jeffrey Katzenberg ($2,500), the musician Herb Alpert ($2,500), the comedian Garry Shandling ($1,000), and the actress Lily Tomlin ($250). Cher has not yet written a check, but says she is planning to soon. Kyle Sullivan, a spokesman for Ms. Warren, said that her national support was a result of her record of accomplishment. He added that more than 23,000 people in Massachusetts had donated to her campaign so far.