Foul mouse! Disney 'drops F-bomb' over '9/11' (with video)
Joe Kovacs - WojrldNetDaily
March 13, 2009
Confrontation sparked by non-release of 'anti-Democrat' ABC miniseries
Did the head of the Walt Disney Company drop the F-bomb on one of its own investors at its annual shareholder meeting?
Tom Borelli, a self-proclaimed conservative activist, claims Disney CEO Robert Iger scowled at him and said, "F--- you" to his face yesterday, all because of an ongoing dispute over the company's failure to release the "Path to 9/11" miniseries on DVD.
"So much for the family-friendly Disney reputation," said Borelli, director of the National Center for Public Policy Research's Free Enterprise Project.
"The Path to 9/11" is the controversial miniseries aired in 2006 on ABC Television, the network owned by Disney, but it has never been released on video . The story is based on the federal "9/11 Commission Report" that probed events leading up to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Borelli says it's because of political reasons, since the program depicts some Democrats in the Clinton administration in a less-than-flattering light. Disney reportedly thinks the DVD would not be a strong seller.
Disney CEO Robert Iger |
According to a news release from Borelli's organization, Borelli "had just ended his presentation and was attempting to shake Iger's hand when Iger used the [obscene] phrase. Iger also refused to uncross his arms and shake Borelli's hand. Borelli, who had received applause from fellow shareholders after his presentation, went back to the podium and precisely reported to his fellow shareholders what Iger had just said, to gasps from the assembled crowd."
Disney spokesman Jonathan Friedland, however, told Tommy Christopher of AOL's Political Machine that he was "sitting right there," and that "Bob didn't say anything back to him." He also said he was "pretty sure Bob shook his hand." He described the episode as "strange."
Borelli's colleague Steve Milloy was listening to the live audio webcast of the meeting as it took place and said:
"Tom completed his presentation. There was a short pause; then I heard Tom's voice. It sounded like he was near to the microphone, not at the microphone. He said, 'He just told me to go f--- myself,' or something like that. I find it hard to believe they would deny that; there was a whole room full of people."
At Tuesday's shareholder meeting in Oakland, Calif., Borelli stated:
Unfortunately, because CEO Bob Iger is putting politics before profits – shareholders are being denied an opportunity to benefit from DVD sales of the ABC-TV miniseries "The Path to 9/11."Since its broadcast in September 2006 – Iger has refused to profit from this project – despite its significant market potential.
"The Path to 9/11" received seven Emmy nominations, had 25 million views over two nights and it was highly ranked in Nielsen ratings – the first night it was No. 2 and on the second night it was the No. 1 – the most-watched TV program in the country.
Clearly, "The Path to 9/11" is a valuable asset!
Not only has Iger decided that Disney will not sell the DVD – he will not allow the sale of its distribution rights. Lions Gate was told the distribution rights were not available, and Disney has ignored repeated attempts by our company to negotiate the purchase of the miniseries distribution rights.
A webcast of the shareholder meeting is available online, but Borelli says Disney has since censored out the F-bombing, replacing it with "white noise."
A statement from Borelli's group notes that "Borelli's report of Iger's remark was audible, however, during the live webcast of the shareholder meeting, making it apparent that Disney personnel purposefully censored the material before posting the archived version on its website's information page for investors."
"The Path to 9/11" came under heavy fire before its airing, with former President Clinton urging ABC to edit out some content that did not portray the actions of himself and his aides favorably.
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MEDIA MATTERS
Foul mouse! Disney 'drops F-bomb' over '9/11'
Confrontation sparked by non-release of 'anti-Democrat' ABC miniseries
Posted: March 11, 2009
11:45 pm Eastern
By Joe Kovacs
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
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Did the head of the Walt Disney Company drop the F-bomb on one of its own investors at its annual shareholder meeting?
Tom Borelli, a self-proclaimed conservative activist, claims Disney CEO Robert Iger scowled at him and said, "F--- you" to his face yesterday, all because of an ongoing dispute over the company's failure to release the "Path to 9/11" miniseries on DVD.
"So much for the family-friendly Disney reputation," said Borelli, director of the National Center for Public Policy Research's Free Enterprise Project.
"The Path to 9/11" is the controversial miniseries aired in 2006 on ABC Television, the network owned by Disney, but it has never been released on video . The story is based on the federal "9/11 Commission Report" that probed events leading up to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Borelli says it's because of political reasons, since the program depicts some Democrats in the Clinton administration in a less-than-flattering light. Disney reportedly thinks the DVD would not be a strong seller.
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Disney CEO Robert Iger |
According to a news release from Borelli's organization, Borelli "had just ended his presentation and was attempting to shake Iger's hand when Iger used the [obscene] phrase. Iger also refused to uncross his arms and shake Borelli's hand. Borelli, who had received applause from fellow shareholders after his presentation, went back to the podium and precisely reported to his fellow shareholders what Iger had just said, to gasps from the assembled crowd."
Disney spokesman Jonathan Friedland, however, told Tommy Christopher of AOL's Political Machine that he was "sitting right there," and that "Bob didn't say anything back to him." He also said he was "pretty sure Bob shook his hand." He described the episode as "strange."
Borelli's colleague Steve Milloy was listening to the live audio webcast of the meeting as it took place and said:
"Tom completed his presentation. There was a short pause; then I heard Tom's voice. It sounded like he was near to the microphone, not at the microphone. He said, 'He just told me to go f--- myself,' or something like that. I find it hard to believe they would deny that; there was a whole room full of people."
At Tuesday's shareholder meeting in Oakland, Calif., Borelli stated:
Unfortunately, because CEO Bob Iger is putting politics before profits – shareholders are being denied an opportunity to benefit from DVD sales of the ABC-TV miniseries "The Path to 9/11."Since its broadcast in September 2006 – Iger has refused to profit from this project – despite its significant market potential.
"The Path to 9/11" received seven Emmy nominations, had 25 million views over two nights and it was highly ranked in Nielsen ratings – the first night it was No. 2 and on the second night it was the No. 1 – the most-watched TV program in the country.
Clearly, "The Path to 9/11" is a valuable asset!
Not only has Iger decided that Disney will not sell the DVD – he will not allow the sale of its distribution rights. Lions Gate was told the distribution rights were not available, and Disney has ignored repeated attempts by our company to negotiate the purchase of the miniseries distribution rights.
A webcast of the shareholder meeting is available online, but Borelli says Disney has since censored out the F-bombing, replacing it with "white noise."
A statement from Borelli's group notes that "Borelli's report of Iger's remark was audible, however, during the live webcast of the shareholder meeting, making it apparent that Disney personnel purposefully censored the material before posting the archived version on its website's information page for investors."
"The Path to 9/11" came under heavy fire before its airing, with former President Clinton urging ABC to edit out some content that did not portray the actions of himself and his aides favorably.
As WND reported in 2007, Cyrus Nowrasteh, a writer and producer for the miniseries, told John Ziegler of Los Angeles radio station KFI during an interview he was told by a top executive at ABC Studios that "if Hillary weren't running for president, this wouldn't be a problem." Ziegler went on to write and produce his own documentary titled "Blocking the Path to 9/11" about the difficulties getting the original miniseries aired. Its movie trailer is embedded here:
"I go to Blockbuster and I see a lot of crap on the shelves," Nowrasteh said. "'Path to 9/11' deserves to be available to people who want to see it or buy it or rent it or whatever. Every controversial movie I can think of, whether it's 'Fahrenheit 9/11,' the Reagan miniseries ... they were all released; they were broadcast. You can get them on DVD."
Ironically, Disney did release a DVD of "Fahrenheit 9/11," the documentary by left-leaning director Michael Moore which blamed the administration of George W. Bush for the attacks. That video reportedly earned Disney a $46 million profit.
Actor Kevin Dunn as Sandy Berger in "The Path to 9/11" |
For "Path to 9/11," Democrats were particularly critical of a scene that depicted former National Security Adviser Berger refusing to authorize a mission to capture Osama bin Laden after CIA operatives and Afghan fighters had the al-Qaida leader in their sights.
As WND reported, Berger was the focus of a Justice Department investigation for removing highly classified terrorism documents before the Sept. 11 Commission hearings that generated the report used for the television program.
Berger and his lawyer told the Associated Press he knowingly removed handwritten notes he made while reading classified anti-terror documents at the archives by sticking them in his jacket, pants and socks. He said he also inadvertently took copies of actual classified documents in a leather portfolio.
FBI agents searched Berger's home and office after he voluntarily returned some, though not all, documents to the National Archives.
"Mr. Berger removed the documents by stuffing them down his pants and in his suit jacket, presumably with the intention of getting rid of any damning evidence showing his involvement in the failure of our intelligence and law enforcement communities to prevent Sept. 11 attacks prior to his testimony before the 9/11 Commission," said former Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif. "The Congress and the American people deserve to know the facts of this crime and what Mr. Berger was covering up."
VIEW VIDEO:
http://wnd.com/index.php?fa+PAGE.view&pageId=91443