Spielberg to NewsMax: Cuba Lied About What I Said

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[slickeroo]

Spielberg to NewsMax: Cuba Lied About What I Said

Hollywood is finally learning what everyone else knew all along: Bloodthirsty Cuban dictator Fidel Castro can't be trusted. Tinseltown's top movie director, Steven Spielberg, wants NewsMax and our readers to know that Castro's regime is exploiting him with a lie.

Our columnist Humberto Fontova, zinging Castro's American groupies (shockingly, there are still plenty, even after the dictator's latest atrocities), mentioned a notorious quotation attributed to Spielberg: that meeting Castro was "the eight most important hours of [his] life."

Spielberg's people contacted our people to proclaim that the director never made any such statement and that Castro's state-run press concocted the quotation.

The fuss recalls actor Sean Penn's claims of being misquoted by Iraq's state-run media after his visit to the dictatorship of his beloved Saddam Hussein.

"Don't believe everything you read, especially in the Cuban press!" Spielberg's office wrote to us.

OK, Mr. Spielberg, if you agree not to believe everything Castro and his goons tell you. How about a "Schindler's List" type of movie to expose what is going on Cuba to this very day? (Note that La-La Land cranks out countless movies exposing Hitler's evils, but the mass murderers Stalin, Mao, Castro etc. always get a pass. "The Killing Fields" is about the only major Hollywood production revealing all the horrors of communism, though "The Deer Hunter" did manage to make "Hanoi" Jane Fonda fly into a hissy fit.)

We'll give Spielberg the benefit of the doubt in denying the comment attributed to him. Though he has long funded Democrat causes, he is not one of Hollywood's loony left. He dared to shock his colleagues when he and Tom Cruise became two of the few big wheels in Tinseltown to support President Bush on Iraq.

Now if only Castro "documentary" maker Oliver Stone will learn Spielberg's lesson.

[Guillermo]

Took him long enough to make a "correction."

I remember reading the "eight hours" quote quite a while ago.

[Billthedrill]

I've learned not to believe everything I read in the press. I've learned not to believe everything I see in the movies for the same reason.

[Prysson]

Whatever the case may be I am going to take Spielberg at his word on this...Whew! I was starting to run out of Hollywood film folks to watch!

[UCFRoadWarrior]

Its amazing how many US liberals suck up to Fidel Castro. Even sadder, we have some in the GOP who want to reward Castro with removing the embargo on Cuba (unfortunately we have Castro suck-ups on both sides)

Hopefully Spielberg's explanation is from the heart and not from the wallet.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I think you're on to something.

[Sonny M]

I think he's lying. First off Criuse didn't back Bush on Iraq, second, Spielberg flip flopped on Iraq so many times,(I can recall at least 4 different opinions that contradict) I don't even know what he thinks now.

[SJSAMPLE]

He'd have credibility if he never went there in the first place. Castro couldn't claim anything if Spielberg hadn't gone there. Now, he's stuck with what his buddy Castro says about him. Now and forever, they're Buds.

[sheik yerbouty]

Why did yje @$%$@#@#!! go there in the first place?

[mass55th]

First Sean Penn felt exploited by Iraq, now Spielberg. Gee! Will wonder never cease?

[Slyfox]

Reaction to Spielberg: meeting Castro was "the eight most important hours of [his] life."

[andrew]

Look, NEWSMAX was used here. Big time. This so-called 'Spielberg's people' is Steven Rivers. He is a left wing PR hack who has been trying to undo the quote for quite some time. If Spielberg wanted to retract the quote he could, easily,like he did when he was falsely quoted as saying he supported Bush on Iraq. Spielberg immediately filed a press release clarifying the situation; He did not support the Republican president--God Forbid.

When aligned with Bush, Spielberg was quick to officially distance himself. When aligned with Castro, Spielberg used a left wing ally (Rivers worked with Tom Hayden and Gary Hart and organized the Spielberg Cuba trip in the first place) to try to undo the damage of the quote, without Spielberg himself having to embarrass Cuba or Castro by retracting the comment after he graciously hosted him. ARGH~!@#$@#$ Why would Newsmax be used so easily here?!

[DeuceTraveler]

"Why did yje @$%$@#@#!! go there in the first place?"

Exactly. Yell it loud.

[sasportas]

I take it Spielberg is in this pic. Which one is he? God any idea what Castro and crew are laughing about?

[GretchenEE]

empathy / exposure bump

cuz I sure wouldn't want Castro misquoting me if I took all the trub to talk to the dictator

[Slyfox]

The pic has no connection with Spielberg. I just thought it was a funny pic of a very unfunny man.

[kidd]

Spielberg made 'Band of Brothers'. He supported the Iraq war. He may lean left, but he's not an Oliver Stone lunatic.

I believe Spielberg.

[slickeroo]

When notified, the WSJ, Boston Globe and a few others put outright retractions at the bottom of their articles that mentioned the Spielberg quote.

You gotta like the way Newsmax handled it. The misquote actually BACKED UP the point made in the origianl article http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/5/2/160836.shtml

: that Castro snookers these people habitually.

[FreeManWhoCan]

I wish we could email this picture to Harry Belofante and Danny Glover. Do you all see the circle of power? Does anyone see ANY black Cubans in this room? God when will it end! Dios por favor! Que se termina esto ya!

[abigail2]

Spielberg on the boy scouts...

"For me the greatest value of scouting was scouting created opportunities for me to become proud of myself," he said. "And, maybe most importantly, it was through the Boy Scouts of America, as I was trying out for a merit badge in photography, that I actually discovered my passion for filmmaking."

He considered himself a passionate advocate of scouting, he said, "until the Supreme Court case of (James) Dale vs. the Boy Scouts of America (in 2000, which upheld the group's right to exclude gays), where I realized something that I really had not been very aware of -- that you could be black, white, you could be Hispanic and Asian, Native-American, Jewish, Catholic, Islamic, but you couldn't get into the scouts if you were gay. And I know it's tough just being a kid trying to find acceptance, trying to accept yourself."

Moreover, he emphasized, "I just have to say that quitting the Boy Scouts was probably one of the most painful experiences I've ever had to endure. But they are wrong and you are right. We are right -- supporting causes like the Human Rights Campaign isn't difficult and it's not even brave. It's mandatory because every day, we wake up in a country that presumes basic liberty and freedom."

Spielberg needs to be Hannitized...