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The petition author was on Fox News Feb 10th!!! http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,78438,00.html The Case Against Celebrity Pundits This is a partial transcript of The Big Story With John Gibson, Feb. 10, 2003, that has been edited for clarity. JOHN GIBSON, HOST: Martin Sheen, Jessica Lange, Janeane Garofalo, Barbra Streisand are just a few of the Hollywood celebs that have gotten on their soapboxes to rail against a possible U.S. invasion of Iraq. Lori Bardsley is with Citizens Against Celebrity Pundits and she's so fed up with these Hollywood types mouthing off that she's doing something about it. [Visit Bardsley's Web site at Please note this page may take a few minutes to load.] Ms. Bardsley joins me now from Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. So, I can't get them to shut up. How do you think you are going to be able to do it? LORI BARDSLEY, CITIZENS AGAINST CELEBRITY PUNDITS: Well, I'm not necessarily trying to shut them up. I'm just trying to create a place on the Internet where the average American like myself could come out and speak up against what they're saying because I think it's bogus. GIBSON: Do you think that your voice has been outgunned by their celebrity so far, anyway? BARDSLEY: For a long time, it goes back far for me. It goes back a long time ago. GIBSON: Now, do you enjoy watching these people in their movies and on their TV shows? BARDSLEY: Well, a long time ago I can say that I did. But I think what they're doing right now, coming out against the military and against this war effort, this possible war effort, I think the average American just doesn't want to look at their face anymore. GIBSON: So, what is it your Web site does? BARDSLEY: Well, basically, at IPetitions.com, you can get on the petition and read the statement. And most Americans agree with the statement. I have 16, 000-plus signatures on the petition. And you can sign your name, and you can leave an opinion about how you feel about the war and the anti-war rhetoric coming out of Hollywood. GIBSON: Why do you think the celebrities have so much power to exercise their rhetoric? BARDSLEY: The American public enjoys movies and we enjoy entertainment. But I think that when they have the media behind them all of the time, they have access to it. And they have the money to do so. I think that they acted like pampered brats when Clinton was in office because they seemed to be in the public eye all of the time. And they stood behind [Clinton] with Monica Lewinsky. I think that they've been trying to smear Bush ever since Gore lost the presidency, and I don't think this is an anti-war effort. I think it is all political, and I think it's bogus. GIBSON: Lori Bardsley, Citizen's Against Celebrity Pundits, and she does not want an autograph. Thank very much. I appreciate it. BARDSLEY: You're welcome.

Oh, poor Baghdad Sean! When are these morons going to learn that by involving themselves in politics, they are going to offend some people who, in turn, will want nothing to do with them...Now that is bad business sense!

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=peopleNews&storyID=2217895

Actor Penn Claims Lost Movie Role Over Iraq Views
Wed February 12, 2003 04:03 PM ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Sean Penn is claiming in a lawsuit that he lost a movie role because of his public opposition to a U.S. war against Iraq.
But Movie producer Steve Bing has countered in his own lawsuit that Penn is "irrational and irresponsible" and accused the actor of trying to extort $10 million for a movie he had no deal to star in.
Bing and Penn hit each other with Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuits on Tuesday in a bitter feud over the putative movie, "Why Men Shouldn't Marry," that could result in a classic courtroom showdown.
Penn, the ex-husband of Madonna, accused Bing of "borrowing a page from the dark era of Hollywood blacklisting" by allegedly reneging on a contract for him to play the lead in the movie after Penn aired his views on Iraq in a January television interview.
Bing, most famous for a bitter dispute over paternity of British actress Elizabeth Hurley's child, termed Penn's claim blackmail.
Bing alleged that on Penn's return from Iraq, Penn threatened "to turn their business dispute into a First Amendment crusade" although it had nothing to do with free speech, threatening to tell the media he had been forced off the movie because of his opposition to a U.S. invasion.
Bing said he had never closed a deal with Penn but had spent millions of dollars on pre-production for the movie which he wrote and intends to direct in the belief that the actor would be on board.
Penn claims breach of oral contract and is asking for $10 million in damages. Bing claims civil extortion and is claiming $15 million in damages.