Disney Forbidding Distribution of Film That Criticizes Bush Pt II

[Cerek the Barbaric]

I browsed through the articles I found. Most had the same basic information, but I found two that offered details the others didn't. Here is the first one.

http://www.mensnewsdaily.com/archive...2004-linda.htm

Pop Singer Linda Ronstadt Fired After Getting Booed for Publicly Supporting Moore
By Jimmy Moore
Talon News
July 20, 2004

Linda Ronstadt, a pop music legend who has chosen to espouse her liberal political views in recent weeks, got fired on Saturday by a Las Vegas casino after getting loudly booed for offering praise for left-wing producer Michael Moore's anti-Bush movie "Fahrenheit 9/11."

Ronstadt was performing a one-night concert at the Alladin casino on Saturday night and dedicated her encore finale of the Eagles classic "Desperado" to Moore, whom she described as a "great American patriot ... who is spreading the truth."

She continued her lauding of Moore by describing him as "someone who cares about this country deeply and is trying to help" with the release of his Bush-bashing film.(1)

Ronstadt encouraged concert-goers to go see the movie.

But the crowd of 4,500 immediately began jeering Ronstadt, tearing up and defacing concert posters and throwing cocktails at the startled singer. In fact, nearly half of those in attendance walked out of the show demanding a refund of their money after Ronstadt's vocal show of support for Moore.

Alladin President Bill Timmins, who was in attendance for Ronstadt's performance, described this as "a very ugly scene."

"[Ronstadt] praised [Moore] and all of a sudden all bedlam broke loose," Timmins told the Associated Press.

As a result, Timmins made the decision to immediately fire Ronstadt and did not allow her to return to her luxury suite.

In addition, Ronstadt was physically escorted off the property to her tour bus because she "spoiled a wonderful evening for our guests and we had to do something about it," Timmins told the AP, noting that this was the first time he has ever had to do that to a performer at his hotel.

Tyri Squyres, a spokeswoman for Alladin, said Ronstadt "wasn't happy, but she was cooperative" as she was leaving the hotel property.

In a statement from the Alladin casino, they assert that Ronstadt was "hired to entertain the guests of the Aladdin, not to espouse political views."

Timmins said he was thinking about his customers who "come from all over the world to be entertained" when he made his decision.

"We hired Ms. Ronstadt as an entertainer, not as a political activist," Timmons told The Las Vegas Sun. "Whether you are politically on the left or on the right is not the point. She went up in front of the stage and just let it out. This was not the correct forum for that."

Realizing that he needed to do something after Ronstadt made her ill-advised comments, Timmins said he took prudent action to calm the upset customers.

"A situation like that can easily turn ugly and I didn't want anything more to come out of it," Timmons expressed to The Las Vegas Sun. "There were a lot of angry people there after she started talking."

Explaining that this situation is not about squelching Ronstadt's freedom of speech, Timmons said the concert stage was an inappropriate place for her to espouse her political beliefs.

"If she wants to talk about her views to a newspaper or in a magazine article, she is free to do so," Timmons noted to The Las Vegas Sun. "But in a stage in front of four and a half thousand people is not the place for it."

Timmins added to the AP, "As long as I'm here, she's not going to play."

Interestingly, Ronstadt had almost taunted Alladin into firing her in a published newspaper interview prior to her concert.

"I keep hoping that if I'm annoying enough to [Alladin], they won't hire me back," Ronstadt told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.(2)

Ronstadt has refused to comment on this incident.

Nevertheless, it seems Ronstadt was miffed at Alladin for billing her concert as a "Greatest Hits Tour."

"Driving into town I saw this big billboard up there with my picture on it saying 'The Greatest Hits Tour,'" Ronstadt told the audience according to the Las Vegas Sun. "That was news to us. We didn't know it was 'The Greatest Hits Tour.' "

But Squyres said Ronstadt's "management gave us the information and approved the ad" before the concert.

And this was not the first time Ronstadt had concluded her concert with a tribute to Moore. She has been making the same dedication to the controversial filmmaker on each of her national tour stops in recent weeks with similar reactions from the audience.

The Washington Post reported earlier this month that Ronstadt was performing at the Wolf Trap near Washington, DC and made her remarks about Moore before singing "Desperado," only to be interrupted and drowned out by groans and boos from those in attendance.(3)

(1) This section confirms that Ronstadt did do more than just say "I want to dedicate this song to Michael Moore". Unfortunately, it still doesn't list everything she said, but it seems clear it was more than just a 1-2 line tribute.

(2) This echoes the same point I made earlier. I couldn't help but wonder if Ronstadt tried to be deliberately "annoying" to avoid being invited back to Aladdin (although I still wonder why she couldn't just decline thier invitation to begin with?).

(3) This is an interesting tid-bit not mentioned in any of the other articles I found. Several mentioned that she had been doing this tribute to Michael Moore at all her stops, but none of the others mentioned that the reactions she had gotten (at some of the venues anyway) had been similar to the reaction at Aladdin.

[Grojlach]

Well, I suppose that means she at least realised that her audience could object in an outspoken manner to her Moore dedication. If I get around to it, I'll try to find the article on the Washington Post site, I suppose.

"groans and boos" are still a far cry from what happened at the Aladdin, though.

Thanks for the effort you put into it though, Cerek. Interesting read. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Grojlach]

And by the way, I actually quoted (1) in the post I made at the top of this page. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 07-20-2004, 04:45 PM: Message edited by: Grojlach ]

[Cerek the Barbaric]

And here is an article with part of Michael Moore's reaction to the incident.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems...7/s1158278.htm

Linda Ronstadt ejected from casino for praising Michael Moore
US singer Linda Ronstadt was booed off the stage and kicked out of a Las Vegas casino after praising polemical filmmaker Michael Moore's film "Fahrenheit 9/11," the casino said.

The management of Las Vegas Aladdin Casino and Resort evicted the famed crooner from the premises during a concert after members of the audience reacted furiously to her praise of Michael Moore, whose film bashes US President George W Bush.

"She was removed from the hotel towards the end of the concert," a hotel official who declined to be identified told AFP.

"The company decided to remove her from the property after she dedicated a song to Michael Moore."

"This angered our guests who spilled their drinks and demanded their money back," the official said.

The liberal Ms Ronstadt, 58, a 10-time Grammy Award-winner and an icon of the politically-agitated 1970s, praised Mr Moore as a "great American patriot" who "is spreading the truth."

She also dedicated the song "Desperado" to Mr Moore and urged the audience to go and see "Fahrenheit 9/11," which mercilessly slams Mr Bush's decision to go to war in Iraq and his handling of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.

According to local media, members of the 4,500-strong audience stormed out of the concert hall, tore down concert posters and tossed cocktails into the air.

Hotel president Bill Timmins then ordered security guards to escort Ms Ronstadt off the premises.

Mr Moore reacted furiously to the hotel and casino's decision in an open letter to Timmins on the filmmaker's website.

"What country do you live in?," Mr Moore asked in the letter.

"For you to throw Linda Ronstadt off the premises because she dared to say a few words in support of me and my film, is simply stupid and un-American," Mr Moore said.

--AFP

I couldn't help but laugh at Moore's comments after all the criticism on this forum that has been leveled at members who called those with an opposing view "un-American".

Another article gave a more detailed description of Moore's reaction (but I could not find it when I went to cut-n-paste it here). In addition to calling Mr. Timmin "stupid" and "un-American", he demanded that Timmin offer an apology to Linda Ronstadt. He went on to say that - in order to set things aright - Mr. Timmins should invite Linda Ronstadt back to Aladdin. Mr. Moore then said he would personally accompany Ronstadt onstage to sing "God Bless America" (or America the Beautiful, can't remember which) and he would also give a FREE viewing of F9/11 to everyone in the audience and to anyone else in Las Vegas that wanted to come see it.

[Grojlach]

Originally posted by Cerek the Barbaric: I couldn't help but laugh at Moore's comments after all the criticism on this forum that has been leveled at members who called those with an opposing view "un-American".

For fairness' sake, I think that's Moore's sense of humour at work, rather than an unintentional adoptation of that ridiculous insult.

[Ronn_Bman]

Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe, but I just don't think so.

I've seen Michael Moore given alot of latitude in this forum, but the truth of the matter is that if something is wrong, then it is wrong. It isn't ok because he did it for this reason or because he's trying to get this point across. If it is wrong, then it is wrong.

I've seen some hurtful and insensitive things said here in this forum. Some truly said in humor, and some merely under the guise of humor, but humor was never found to be an acceptable defense.

Anyone up for a few good French jokes?

[ 07-20-2004, 06:27 PM: Message edited by: Ronn_Bman ]

[Donut]

Originally posted by Oblivion437: I said that someone who was from Australia, who I'd personally talked to, had used those mannerisms in insult, and spite. Are you calling me a liar? Or are you trying to use your theory to pick a fight with reality? EDIT: Before you get all high and mighty, know what the hell you're talking about, or you end up looking utterly pompous...

Perhaps that person was English! We sound very similar mate!

G'day!

[Cerek the Barbaric]

Originally posted by Grojlach: quote: Originally posted by Cerek the Barbaric: I couldn't help but laugh at Moore's comments after all the criticism on this forum that has been leveled at members who called those with an opposing view "un-American".

For fairness' sake, I think that's Moore's sense of humour at work, rather than an unintentional adoptation of that ridiculous insult.[/QUOTE]I have to agree with Ronn on this one. Moore was pretty vocal in his comments towards Timmin. Demanding an apology and a retraction of the ban on future bookings. It would help if I could have found that particular article to cut-n-paste here. The overall tone of Moore's comments made me feel that he meant exactly waht he said to Timmin.

Unfortunately, Moore and Ronstadt both seem to be forgetting that Freedom of Speech is a two-way street. They have a right to express their views, and critics have the same right to say "We don't like or agree with your view and we don't want to be forced to hear it." Mr. Timmin has an obligation to keep his guests happy. The success of his casino depends on giving the guests what they want. An unexpected discourse on the wonders of Michael Moore obviously did NOT meet that criteria - and Mr. Timmin has a right to say he is not going to invite Ronstadt back to perform at his casino again.

As for Moore, he has proven to be very INtolerant of ANY criticism. He tries to paint all the critics of BfC as "whackos", but Hardy did a thorough job of explaining precisely how Moore had edited certain parts of BfC to be deliberately deceiving - and he did it without shouting hyperbolic insults about Moore's character. True, he did label Moore as being "narcissistic", but given his explanation of the term, I agree that it does seem to fit.

Moore also proved how intolerant he was of criticism when he told the reporters at the Academy Awards show to "do their jobs and NOT report that the audience was divided in their reaction to his anti-Bush rant". That comment was confirmed by Roger Ebert (a fan of Moore's) who was one of the reporters Moore was addressing (and who agreed that the audience did seem to be split about 50/50).

So, no, I don't really think it is Moore's humor coming through. I think Moore does deliberately distort the truth and then attacks the character of anybody that calls him on it. But of course, that is just my opinion.

[John D Harris]

Originally posted by Grojlach: Sorry if the "drunk country fans" comment offended you in any way (which was loosely, though naively inspired by Ronstadt being a country singer attracting country fans, and the feeling that you'd have to be pretty drunk to respond in the way the audience did

Apology accepted, But I can't forgive you for labling Linda Ronstadt a country singer even in her "hay day" she was pop/folk she really wasn't country. Her "hay day" was the '70s and for country that meant Merl, Johnny, Charlie (all three Paycheck, Pride & Daniels) Tammy, Porter, and I know I'm forgeting a few more. But at my age your bound too

I believe Linda Ronstadt has gone to a more classical/lounge/'40's big band sound in the last few years. Which would explain why she seemed upset over a "Greatest Hits" concert. She probibly has a new album out and wanted to push it. (a guess)

[Grojlach]

Originally posted by Ronn_Bman: Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe, but I just don't think so. I've seen Michael Moore given alot of latitude in this forum, but the truth of the matter is that if something is wrong, then it is wrong. It isn't ok because he did it for this reason or because he's trying to get this point across. If it is wrong, then it is wrong. I've seen some hurtful and insensitive things said here in this forum. Some truly said in humor, and some merely under the guise of humor, but humor was never found to be an acceptable defense. Anyone up for a few good French jokes?

Perhaps, but Michael Moore gets quite riled up himself over the use of the term "un-American", especially in regard to The Patriot Act and disagreeing with the government. You'd expect him to be conscious enough about its use to handle it carefully. Of course we don't know the manner in which he used the term (sarcasm often gets lost in fine print), but I personally feel this particular case is too lightweight to justify an angry "un-American" and meaning it, too; my money is on "using the enemy's favourite label and backfiring it on them" (which is substantially different from, say, offensive French jokes), especially regarding the hilarious remark that he's willing to sing "God Bless America" on stage with Linda Ronstadt and provide the casino with a free viewing of F9/11.
If he did say it and actually meant it however, I'll agree with you and Cerek that its use is inappropriate and that Moore loses face over this remark.

[ 07-21-2004, 05:58 AM: Message edited by: Grojlach ]