Actors Guild Warns Against Blacklisting

[Brad]

Actors Guild Warns Against Blacklisting

The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - The entertainment industry must not blacklist people who speak out against war with Iraq, the Screen Actors Guild said.

"Some have recently suggested that well-known individuals who express `unacceptable' views should be punished by losing their right to work," the union said in a statement posted Monday on its Web site.

"Even a hint of the blacklist must never again be tolerated in this nation," the statement added.

The reference was to the Hollywood blacklist of the 1950s, when actors and writers suspected of harboring pro-Communist sentiments were barred from working.

"During this shameful period, our own industry prostrated itself before smear campaigns and witch hunters rather than standing on the principles articulated in the nation's fundamental documents," the statement said.

Martin Sheen recently said top executives at NBC had "let it be known they're very uncomfortable" with his outspoken opposition to war with Iraq.

Sheen, who plays the president on the "The West Wing," said the network fears his position will hurt the show. An NBC spokeswoman responded that network executives have expressed no such concerns.

In a lawsuit filed last month, actor Sean Penn accused producer Steve Bing of reneging on an agreement to pay him $10 million to star in a proposed movie called "Why Men Shouldn't Marry" after Penn said he was against war with Iraq. Bing denied the allegation in a countersuit, saying Penn pulled out of the project.

[Janice]

I find it ironic that Martin Sheen plays the President on TV and disagrees so vehemently with the President Bush in real life regarding war.
I hope nobody's career is hurt for expressing their opinions, either way.

[Georgia's on my Mind]

I saw that and going to post a similiar topic....it's awful you think people would realize how bad his is the first time

[TJL]

I doubt any of these actors have a thing to worry about.

It's no secret that the great majority of folks in Hollywood are on the liberal side.
I would think the ones that are supporting the Bush Administration's stance on Iraq would be the ones in jeopardy of being "blacklisted."

[Janice]

Originally posted by TJL
I doubt any of these actors have a thing to worry about.
It's no secret that the great majority of folks in Hollywood are on the liberal side.
I would think the ones that are supporting the Bush Administration's stance on Iraq would be the ones in jeopardy of being "blacklisted."

Good point.
I can't think of a celebrity who has publicly supported war in Iraq. Fred Thompson has a pro-war commercial, but I think of him as more political than Hollywood.

[Kitt]

I think Arnold Swartz.... maybe has had a word or two on the pro side. I'm not up on this blacklist situation but I doubt that blacklist is the proper word for whatever is going on. It's probably just a case of squeamish advertisers and Hollywood executives fearing damage to their bottom line. Which side of the debate an actor is on is only a concern to the execs and ad people if loss of revenue might come of it.

[Janice]

It appears celebrities are facing a backlash for their views.

From PageSix.com

SHRILL SHEEN LOSES TV AD GIG

MARTIN Sheen's politicking against the war on terrorism may have cost him a lucrative endorsement contract.
Sheen and his son Charlie starred in a spot for Visa's Check Card which was cited as one of the top TV commercials of 2002. But it was abruptly canceled last week.

Insiders say Sheen's vitriolic George W. Bush-bashing was the reason. "Visa has been getting tons of complaints based on his war stance," said one source.

"Visa was running the Sheen ads with the Yao Ming ads," a network executive said. "But last week, they pulled Sheen's ad right after all the hullabaloo over his [anti-war] remarks hit the press. Yao Ming's are still running."

A rep for ad agency BBDO referred all calls to Visa, which denied that the commerical's termination had anything to do with Sheen's politics.

"After airing for more than four months, the Visa USA television commercial featuring Martin and Charlie Sheen concluded its run on March 11," a statement from Visa read.

"As with many Visa commercials, this spot aired for a specific period of time, and is now being rotated out of the advertising lineup."

"Mr. Sheen is part of a long list of celebrities that we use or have used - from Yao Ming to Bob Dole to Kevin Bacon - to promote the Visa Check Card. While these celebrities play a role in our spots, they in no way represent the views of Visa.

"Likewise, Visa does not use its advertising to make political statements, and neither the spot nor the conclusion of its run should be interpreted as one."

Sheen, in pursuit of martyrdom, claims that NBC - which airs "The West Wing" - is uncomfortable with his anti-Bush bombast. He bragged last night on "Access Hollywood" that he's received an "avalanche of hate mail."

But Sheen refuses to talk about anything else. As PAGE SIX reported Tuesday, when a publicist from Warner Bros. - the producers of "The West Wing" - tried to change the subject from Iraq during a press junket, Sheen went "ballistic."

"If they had not said anything to him, it probably would have passed," our spy said. "But they did, he got angry, and then that was all he talked about the rest of the day with all the other journalists."

[Janice]

http://apnews.excite.com/article/200...D7PPKCFG1.html