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March 05, 2003
More geese and ganders
From IMDb.com:
Sheen Faces Firing Over War Stance
Hollywood star Martin Sheen is facing getting fired from his role as President Jed Bartlett in TV hit The West Wing - because of his outspoken views on war. The Apocalypse Now actor has been the most vocal of a growing number of celebrity names strongly opposed to conflict with Iraq. He has addressed rallies and spearheaded last week's "virtual match" in Washington DC, where legislators were bombarded with a million emails, telephone calls and faxes from protesters. But Sheen's strong political views are causing problems for West Wing bosses at NBC, who fear they face a boycott from advertisers. The actor claims NBC executives have told him his high profile could damage the show and called on him to explain his views. Meanwhile, Sheen and other stars among the anti-war lobby are also facing a public backlash because of their controversial standpoint.
It seems to me that if the cause for this war were just, there'd be no reason to fear anti-war protesters - be they celebrities, people wearing t-shirts in the mall or anyone else. The only reason to silence dissent is if you're afraid the dissenters will make more sense than you do and convince others to oppose your plans.
Right now, NBC needs to get the message that more people will quit watching their shows (not just "The West Wing", but others as well) if they do fire Martin Sheen (or anyone else) for their views, that will quit watching the show if they don't.
Interstingly, former Senator Fred Thompson, currently playing District Attorney Arthur Branch on NBC's "Law & Order", hasn't received the same kind of flack for appearing in a pro-war commercial that Martin Sheen has for his anti-war stance. I've found no reports that there are any threats to Thompson's job or any "discomfort" being expressed by NBC officials.
This is another situation to watch closely - particularly if they NBC continues to act to silence anti-war celebrities and not pro-war ones.
Posted by thorswitch at March 5, 2003 05:09 PM
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