In response to our ad in the NY Times on 1/20, that evening CNN’s Showbiz Tonight‘s top story was about our ad and the Hollywood actors who signed it.
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Transcript below.
http://cnnstudentnews.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0601/20/sbt.01.html
Aired January 20, 2006
– 19:00:00
ET
THIS IS A
RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
A.J.
HAMMER, CNN ANCHOR: I`m A.J. Hammer. T.V.`s only live entertainment news show
starts right now.
On SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, Hollywood
versus President Bush. A star-studded list of celebs demanding the president
step down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ED ASNER, ACTOR: We are engaged in a war built
on lies.
(END
AUDIO CLIP)
HAMMER:
Tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT reveals which stars are rallying against Bush, what
they`re saying and why they`re calling it a state of emergency.
Tonight, Aniston`s anxiety. Can Jennifer
Aniston`s career survive the scrutiny of her personal life? How Jen handles her
movie premiere in Sundance on the very same day Brad Pitt took another giant
step toward adopting Angelina Jolie`s children. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, right there at
Sundance with Aniston.
Dying for a chance. Meet the man who had a
simple wish — to play a dead body on T.V. and in the movies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Call 911.
(END
VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER:
We`re dead serious. Tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT shows you what happened to the
aspiring actor whose presentation is a little stiff. OK, a lot stiff.
RACHEL
HUNTER, MODEL: Hi, I`m Rachel Hunter. If it happened today, it`s on SHOWBIZ
TONIGHT.
HAMMER:
Welcome to the weekend. I am A.J. Hammer, live in New
York.
Tonight, Hollywood
at war with the president. This is Bush bashing like you`ve never seen it
before. And get this, it`s coming on the fifth anniversary of President Bush`s
inauguration. Hollywood`s biggest stars say President Bush has got to go and
they`re saying so in a controversial new ad. Joining us live from the White
House, CNN`s Sumi Das for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. What does this ad want to do, Sumi?
SUMI DAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well the
full-page newspaper ad calls for nationwide protests during President Bush`s
State of the Union address on December – excuse me, January 31st here in
Washington. And some of the biggest stars in Hollywood
are lending their names to this controversial ad.
(BEGIN
VIDEO TAPE)
DAS
(voice-over): It`s the latest round in an ongoing match between Hollywood and
the White House. Lately, it seems a number of Hollywood
stars have stepped up their attacks on the Bush administration and its
policies.
ASNER: We are engaged in a war built on lies.
HARRY BELAFONTE, ACTOR/SINGER: The greatest
tyrant in the world, the greatest terrorist in the world, George W. Bush.
DAS: Now some of them are putting it in
writing. This full-page ad taken out in today`s “New York Times” and
endorsed by a number of Hollywood heavyweights calls for Americans to literally
make noise during the president`s State of the Union later this month as a
demand that he step down.
The ad
was signed by Ed Asner and Harry Belafonte, as well as Oscar winner Sean Penn,
Susan Sarandon, Jessica Lange and Jane Fonda. The ad was taken out by the
anti-Bush group World Can`t Wait, whose spokeswoman tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT what
the group wants to see the night of the State of the Union.
SUNSARA
TAYLOR, WORLDCANTWAIT.ORG: We`re holding protests all across the country for people
to bring the noise, pots and pans, banging on them. Bring their drums, bring
their instruments and drown out his lies. And we feel it`s on us, on the
millions of the millions of people who don`t want to live in this future. We
ourselves must step up and take responsibility for the future and demand that
Bush leave and take his program with him.
DAS: Not everyone in Hollywood
wants to see President Bush go. Actor Ben Stein, a one-time speechwriter for
Richard Nixon recently told us he`s a Bush supporter.
BEN STEIN, ACTOR: I really love George Bush. I
really think he`s a great leader.
DAS: But
conservative critics say celebrity involvement in this Bush must go campaign
will only hurt Hollywood`s perception among everyday Americans.
MICHAEL MEDVED, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Hollywood
is associated in the public mind as so ultraliberal, so one-sided, so partisan.
Celebrity involvement in this very shrill, extremist fringe group ad only
compliments and only intensifies that identification of Hollywood
with the left-wing fringe in American politics.
DAS: And
radio talk show host Michael Smerconish feels that celebrities get too much
attention when they speak on important issues.
MICHAEL SMERCONISH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST:
Unfortunately, what we do is we glorify the celebrities and the athletes in
society and put them on a pedestal as if they have some great, inherent
knowledge about the issues.
DAS: But actor Tim Robbins, whose partner
Susan Sarandon, is one of the names on the World Can`t Wait ad recently told
SHOWBIZ TONIGHT that celebrities have every right to lend their names to causes
that are important to them.
TIM ROBBINS, ACTOR: It`s not easy to do. You
have to do your homework. If you`re comfortable with it and you feel like you
can do something, then you should.
DAS: And
the group calling for President Bush`s removal is more than happy to have
celebrities take up their cause.
TAYLOR: I think really, when people who are
respected and loved both for their art and their intellectual work and their
opinions give voice to a demand, it makes it possible for the millions who also
feel that way to give expressions to it as well.
DAS: Still, there`s the question of how
effective this planned State of the Union protest will be. Conservatives aren`t
exactly worried.
MEDVED: There is virtually no chance that
because Ed Asner and Susan Sarandon are demonstrating against President Bush`s
State of the Union, that he`ll decide, “OK, I quit. Gosh, if I`ve lost
Harry Belafonte and Sean Penn, I might as well throw in the towel.”
DAS: President Bush probably isn`t going
anywhere just yet, so it seems there may be more rounds left in the battle
between the White House and the Hollywood left.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DAS: As I mentioned, the State of the Union
address is on January 31st. We`ll see then if this celebrity-filled call to
protest will do any good. A.J.?
HAMMER: Sumi, thanks very much. CNN`s Sumi Das
for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. And of course this also gets lots of people talking, so
now we would like to hear from you on the subject for our Friday night SHOWBIZ
TONIGHT the question of the day. Celebrities bashing President Bush — are they
out of line? You can vote at CNN.com/SHOWBIZTONIGHT. If you`ve got more to say,
we want to hear that too. Our e-mail address is SHOWBIZTONIGHT@CNN.com. And we
will read some of what you have to say later on in the show.
Well Jennifer Aniston`s new film,
“Friends with Money” kicked off the star-studded Sundance Film
Festival in Park City, Utah. That was last night. And this is the very first
movie that Aniston shot since she and then-husband Brad Pitt, announced that
they were splitting up.
Well last
night, Jen was all smiles. She was posing for the cameras on the red carpet,
but of course, as you might have expected, made no mention of her personal
life. And this is something she has gotten quite good at.