Jesters have been very close to kings in medieval time. They knew a lot about the king and what's going on in the kingdom. Probably that was needed to make the jokes pleasing the king and that no harmful jokes were made. Actors nowadays aren't part of the elite I think. They are controlled by the elites and need to act to benefit them. Otherwise they get cancelled and false accusations are made and their reputation is killed in no second. They maybe act like they were in the elite and probably think they are, but actually most of them are blackmailed victims and puppets in a game they wish they had never started. What changed with the introduction of tv/radio is the market cap of the entertainment industry. But once again it wasn't the players who made the big profit, but the game makers. We see these stars living in luxury, but behind the scenes they are addicts to their status, what makes them easy to control. It's all they have in their life and if it's taken away, they are going to zero or even below.