'Fahrenheit' Shocker! Michael Moore Accused Of Exploiting Out of Context Video Clips
Michael Moore's Palm d'Or-winning indictment of the Bush administration, Fahrenheit 9/11, is still a source of controversy two years after its release. Sgt. Peter Damon, a mechanic who lost his arms in a freak accident repairing a Blackhawk helicopter, is suing multiple parties including Moore and NBC (to whom he gave the interview) for $175 million for misrepresenting his position on the war:
The suit, which claims "defamation and infliction of emotional distress," also names film executives, distributors and the NBC television network, which shot the original footage Moore used in his film. The suit seeks $175 million in damages. [...]
While he was being treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., he was asked to do an interview with Brian Williams of "NBC Nightly News."
The footage was subsequently licensed to Moore's film, which the complaint states "denounces the United States military action in Iraq" by attacking President Bush.
Whether or not NBC was in their legal rights to "license" (i.e. sell) the interview to Moore for the purposes of furthering his politically-motivated documentary, this lawsuit isn't the kind of publicity they need right now. We'd encourage the fourth-place peacock network to settle as quietly and fairly as possibly, rather than attempt to capitalize on any additional ratings it could bring in by having the entire trial filmed before a live studio audience, with Justice Howie Mandel having Damon choose his settlement from an array of numbered suitcases.