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| Fifth Column | |
| Sean Penn can sue for loss of film role | |
| 2003-05-12 | |
| Here's a little Monday morning red meat. Is there really a Hollywood blacklist against performers who don't support the Bush administration? No. The answer may lie in a Los Angeles courtroom. A California judge has ruled that actor Sean Penn can pursue a legal claim that he was fired from a film because of his piquant political views and a brief visit he made to Iraq last December. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Irving Feffer, who categorized his decision as Sean Penn in a comedy? That sucker was doomed from the start. Mr. Bing, in turn, is suing Mr. Penn for $15 million, claiming the actor is trying to extort money and aspires "to turn their business dispute into a First Amendment crusade." "Penn crosses over a bright line into unprotected speech when he publicly advocated the violent overthrow of the U.S. government," Mr. Bing said in court papers, adding that Mr. Penn trashed "any standard of decency" by posing for photographs under a portrait of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and meeting with regime officials during his visit to Baghdad. That would make a comedy film harder to sell, unless the next scene shows Mr. Penn being spanked by Condi Rice. Mr. Penn is currently at work on the film, "The Assassination of Richard Nixon," based on the true story of an insurance salesman who planned to kill President Nixon in 1974 by hijacking an airliner and crashing it into the White House. "Fast Times at 12 o'clock High"? Though he recently has dampened his political commentary Who'll take the bet that Mr. Solomon's group is 1) a store-fron with a computer, a phone, and six members; 2) tied in some way to the usual anti-war, ANSWER, indymedia, etc., crowd?
Last time I checked, ridicule was still allowed under the First Amendment. Mr. Bing, 37, and the heir to a $400 million real estate fortune, had his own tabloid travails after actress Elizabeth Hurley used DNA tests to prove in court last year that he had fathered her son. Liz Hurley? Yeah, baby! He was named in another paternity suit by MGM owner Kirk Kerkorian, who claimed Mr. Bing was the father of his ex-wife's daughter. | |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #11 This is ridiculously easy to resolve... take him back into the movie, and give the job of re-writing Sean's part to those play-writing monkeys that were in the news this weekend, and tell him it's going to be a combination of "Rain Man", "I am Sam", and "Die Hard": Actor: Look at that! Penn: SSsssSSsSSssSSSsssSSSS Actor: I agree totally. Should we steal this car? Penn: SSSsssSS... kd j jkd lasjdkf ? |
| Posted by: snellenr 2003-05-12 13:11:21 |
| #10 Sean Penn goes to Iraq and tells Saddam to "tear down this wall". And now can't get work. So nearly broke he tries to clear his name... |
| Posted by: Lucky 2003-05-12 11:25:00 |
| #9 Penn's trying to follow in Dad's footsteps. His father was purportedly blacklisted for |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-05-12 08:54:59 |
| #8 If there's a blacklist, it's economic, not political. There isn't a more bottom line industry on earth then the entertainment industry. If you can't make them money, they don't want to know you. And if you piss off a large segment of the American public to the point where they won't support your projects, you aren't going to be making the studios and the moguls any money. They don't like that. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-05-12 08:17:44 |
| #7 A comedy starring Sean Penn about hijacking an airliner and crashing it into the White House. Gee, that's just got to be a howl... Everybody even slightly associated with this "project" has got to be a mental midget to start with. |
| Posted by: Dar 2003-05-12 08:15:44 |
| #6 First of all, the McCarthy-era "blacklist" did not deal with those who made public statements, only private associations, and second, one such breach of contract dispute doesn't even come close to implying any such "blacklist" exists. Even if his whole career goes into the toilet now, and one can only hope, the case could be made quite impressively that his public statements made him box office poison, and the producers of a movie have no obligation to put up good money to make movies with such box office poison. Hollywood is all about image, more than anything else. Ya see, Mr. Penn, when you cross that "bright line", people have long memories, and you are held accountable for your public statements. Don't be so stupid as to believe your public statements have no impact on your box office appeal. |
| Posted by: Jeff Brokaw 2003-05-12 07:53:14 |
| #5 Though a blacklist has yet to emerge... It's on my refrigerator. Does that mean he can sue me? |
| Posted by: Laurence of the Rats 2003-05-12 06:35:59 |
| #4 Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting is a left-wing group that "monitors" the media looking for conservative bias. Unconnected to ANSWER, however. One wonders though whether FAIR (cute, eh?)will say anything about Jayson Blair's lying and fabricated reporting at the New York Times. Don't hold your breath...and take a look at the links on their site...tells you plenty about what this group's "spin" is. |
| Posted by: R. McLeod 2003-05-12 02:05:23 |
| #3 "That would make a comedy film harder to sell, unless the next scene shows Mr. Penn being spanked by Condi Rice. " There's something I'd pay to see. |
| Posted by: Kathy K 2003-05-12 17:24:31 |
| #2 "Elizabeth Hurley used DNA tests to prove in court last year that he had fathered her son." If I had nailed Liz Hurley, I would of had T-shirts printed up. |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-05-12 14:08:15 |
| #1 You can sue ANYBODY for ANYTHING. This is America. Doesn't mean you'll win, or even get a trial. Just means you're allowed to start proceedings. |
| Posted by: mojo 2003-05-12 13:55:50 |