CBS Nixed 'Reagans' Following Letter from Rock Hudson's Ex-Lover

NewsMax ^ | 11/4/03 | Limbacher

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

CBS's decision to pull the plug on its mini-series "The Reagans" came on the heels of a letter to the network from Rock Hudson's ex-lover, who complained that the portrayal of the 40th president as a virulent homophobe was provably false.

"The notion that President Reagan was a homophobe strikes me as silly beyond belief," wrote Marc Christian, in a letter to CBS entertainment chief Les Moonves made public Tuesday by her friend, conservative commentator Tammy Bruce.

"Not only did he have several gay men on his staff when he was Governor of California," said Christian, "he called my lover, Rock Hudson when he was on his deathbed just weeks before he died of AIDS and wished him well and voiced his and Nancy's concern and prayers."

As Bruce reported in her FrontPageMagazine.com column, Christian's letter continued:

" . . . The Reagans had known Rock for years and knew he was gay [as did most in Hollywood]. The point is Reagan could have ignored Rock's illness and didn't. He could have just issued a public statement concerning his 'official sorrow' but made a personal phone call instead."

Hudson's partner slammed the Tiffany network for having become "the official arm of the Democrat party," adding, "I bet President Reagan's phone call to Rock Hudson isn't in the screenplay or should I say smearplay, is it?"

Wrote Bruce, "This note from Marc to Moonves is important for several reasons, mostly for the injection of the truth into a world ruled by vacant, malevolent leftists."

"Marc's letter, and the e-mails, letters and calls all of you made to CBS to register your protest and to support a great and decent man and his wife, obviously do make a difference," she concluded.

[Lunatic Fringe]

Bump!

Reagan was a true compassionate conservative!

[Pan_Yans Wife]

May God bless President Reagan.

[HitmanLV]

Ultimately I think that this is where the screenwriter/producers went overboard. They were very wrong in making Reagan a hateful character vis a vis homosexuals, in the absence of any proof of that kind of behavior. That's clearly defamatory (with no regard to the legal use of the word), and in thinking the way they did they were way out of line.

[Hazzardgate]

Wow!

[StriperSniper]

Listen To Howard Stern Talking About Les Moonves

[cwb]

Barbara Streisand must be deeply saddened at this news.

[longtermmemmory]

Methinks that CBS is engaged in CYA with the homosexual advocate groups. They are saying "see, its okay, a homosexual told us it was wrong. We did not do it for anyyy other reason, honest."

Good letter.


Zap Hallmark.

[Scenic Sounds]

"The notion that President Reagan was a homophobe strikes me as silly beyond belief," wrote Marc Christian, in a letter to CBS entertainment chief Les Moonves made public Tuesday by her friend, conservative commentator Tammy Bruce.

"Not only did he have several gay men on his staff when he was Governor of California," said Christian, "he called my lover, Rock Hudson when he was on his deathbed just weeks before he died of AIDS and wished him well and voiced his and Nancy's concern and prayers."

This conforms with my memory of President Reagan. I don't remember him as being anti-gay.

[laotzu]

Did we do the right thing.....censoring CBS?

[Pan_Yans Wife]

What is encouraging is that they were so off base in gauging the reaction of the viewers and the conservatives!

And they wonder why they keep losing elections? Special interest groups, as a demographic, will not help the ratings of this movie. Americans who love the Reagans have spoken.

[Huck]

We didn't censor them. We censured them, and it was the right thing to do.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

You nailed it. This is a true, Red, White and Blue grass roots victory.

[arasina]

Hudson's partner slammed the Tiffany network for having become "the official arm of the Democrat party," adding, "I bet President Reagan's phone call to Rock Hudson isn't in the screenplay or should I say smearplay, is it?"

Impressive statement. Take that, Babs!

[theFIRMbss]

>"The notion that President Reagan was a homophobe strikes me as silly beyond belief," wrote Marc Christian, in a letter to CBS entertainment chief Les Moonves made public Tuesday by her [?!?] friend, conservative commentator Tammy Bruce.

Politics makes strange
bed-fellows (and confuses
reporters). Christian

has his cake, and eats
it, too. He sues Rock's estate,
but's still the "partner" ...

Hudson's lover seeks another $14.5 million

On Wednesday, jurors found that Hudson and Miller were guilty of "outrageous conduct" for withholding the movie star's AIDS diagnosis from the young man [Christian] who was Hudson's lover for two years.

Miller along with the Hudson estate were held liable for the $14.5 million judgment. The arguments for additional damages focused only on Miller because the law prohibits punitive or exemplary damages to be collected from the estate of a dead person.

[Burkeman1]

A rather substantial victory. I would not have watched this mini series. But to think Reagan would have been made into a cartoon character for the Left for millions of people was disturbing.

[longtermmemmory]

cbs was not censored. They were subject to the market forces that broadcast television lives in. The move to showtime is to take it to a pay only arena.

Hallmark is going to distribute this. We are well withing our rights to not patronize them or buy CRWN stock in light of their distribution agreemtn with CBS productions.

[Graybeard58]

"The notion that President Reagan was a homophobe strikes me as silly beyond belief," wrote Marc Christian, in a letter to CBS entertainment chief Les Moonves made public Tuesday by her friend, conservative commentator Tammy Bruce."


...Can someone tell me who the "her" is in this statement: "by her friend conservative commentator Tammy Bruce" ?

[pabianice]

CBS doesn't care. After all, Christian is a conservative gay man, and like conservative blacks and women, must be destroyed for wandering off the Plantation.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Is it censorship when HBO only runs the Sopranos, and it isn't found on the public channels?

Isn't this a matter of supply and demand? The public viewers don't want this on the air, but the private viewers can pay to watch it, if they wish.

[jpl]

The liberal caricature of Reagan as an angry, hateful man is nothing more than simple projection.

[Mr. Lucky]

...as must be her husband, Mr. Streisand.

[Alissa]

It didn't hurt that Drudge sat in for Rush and presented excerpts to his million + listeners. Drudge was encouraging people to complain. I think Drudge should get a lot of credit for his part.

[longtermmemmory]

and in Europe when Hallmark sells this to the European Gov run stations that broadcast cable shows over the air?

There is no FR in europe. There is no drudge, no rush, no FNC. Thre is only CNN europe and euronews. Many of the antiamericanists (aka socialist and commies) would welcome ANYthing that puts reagan in a bad light. Lies/truth its all the same as long as Reagan's legacy is diminished.

[rintense]

We didn't censor them. We made our voice heard. As President Bush said, the best form of censorship is to turn the channel. In this case, contacting the station worked just as well.

[InvisibleChurch]

start the leftist smear machine against Marc Christian

[Pan_Yans Wife]

It's a free market. The Europeans can and will do what they wish. We have no control, there.

CBS passing this off to Showtime was a conservative victory. It was not censorship. Showtime can sell it, and people will watch.

But CBS is diminished by this entire episode, and that is a good thing.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

With Marc Christian's testimony in the libel suit, Nancy Reagan could end up being Les Moonves' boss.

[laotzu]

"Is it censorship when..."

Har! har!!

I was just using a little 'Tim Robbins' lingo there.

[longtermmemmory]

We do have control here. Hallmark is distributing this. If they participate in the distribution, the will pay an ecconomic price.

[Petronski]

Smearplay bump!

[whereasandsoforth]

That was a kind and thoughtful act from Mr. Christian. He could have ignored it all but he chose not to. The love and admiration for President Reagan goes beyond mere politics. His life can be a model for us all.

[Billthedrill]

The sort of historical revisionism inherent in condensing Reagan's life this way is bad enough but inevitable; when it is further twisted to meet the criteria of a hostile political agenda, the character becomes unrecognizable. Reagan was, after all, an actor, author, union leader, and Democrat before ever he embarked on a conservative political career.

It's all very well to take an adversarial stance in politics, and accusing Reagan of being anti-gay is a perfect example. It serves to mobilize the troops in a political campaign and is normally understood to be hyperbolic and distorted. This is the sort of thing Reagan meant when he said that "we're all friends after 6:00." It's not supposed to be taken seriously.

This is quite another thing. For starters, the fellow is on his deathbed and hence no longer a player or even a factor in politics. This sort of smear does not function for anything but to validate and maintain an unremittingly hostile worldview, to propagate and keep alive an entirely artificial hatred. It isn't the mark of a healthy intellect at all.

[DoctorMichael]

"......a world ruled by vacant, malevolent leftists......"

I couldn't have put it any better myself!

[Spok]

President Reagan is a TRUE humanitarian; a quality that eludes the hateful left, especially in the context of those with whom they disagree.

[dead]

Can someone tell me who the "her" is in this statement: "by her friend conservative commentator Tammy Bruce" ?

It seems that Carl Limbacher is either calling the gay man “her” or Les Moonves “her”.

Either way, it’s pretty funny.

[ItsJeff]

Reagan was a true compassionate conservative!

When Reagan was governor of California, there was an initiative to ban gay teachers. Reagan came out squarely against the proposal and it failed. I'm sure that wasn't covered in the movie, either.

[Hildy]

Back in the early 80's little was known about AIDS, except that it was spread by sexual contact. The homosexual community wants to blame the epidemic on everyone and anyone EXCEPT where the blame lay: with themselves.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Agree. Drudge helped nail this hatchet job.

[Lib Buster]

Absolutely. Having Drudge expose this piece of garbage to such a wide audience is what really got this ball rolling. He is to be commended for this!

[ClancyJ]

If Hallmark distributes this, they are ruining the reputation they had of only promoting high quality productions. This is a soap opera - sleaze.

Hallmark - only if you want to send the very best. Well, they are proving Hallmark does not understand what the very best is.

[Eowyn-of-Rohan]

Reagan would have been made into a cartoon character for the Left

He has always been one anyway to the left

[Lib Buster]

This entire situation essentially boils down to the fact that the Left believes, TRULY BELIEVES, the outrageous lies that they put out. Think back to the 80's, when AIDS was a new, mysterious disease. Groups like ACT UP made ridiculous, irresponsible claims against President Reagan. Obviously, there were some dimwits out there who didn't bother to check the facts then, and don't bother to check them now. After all, a radical fringe group like ACT UP made the claims, so they must be true, right?

Remember when the book "And the Band Played On" came out, no one really challenged its content. It was subsequently made into a movie shown on cable. We must be vigilant in challenging such material, because there are people out there who take these things as a representation of the TRUTH. Lord knows, they aren't getting the facts presented in school.

This should serve as a reminder to us all of how things used to be. Outrageous lies at that time went largely unchallenged. Phil Donahue ruled daytime TV talk, and talk radio had not yet experienced the Limbaugh age.

We must NEVER go back.

[Britton J Wingfield]

ping.

[mhking]

Did we do the right thing.....censoring CBS?

We didn't censor them, we held their feet to the fire. We forced them to admit that they were wrong to consider airing lies and presenting them as truth.

[cateizgr8]

That is awesome that he is helping to set the record straight :)

[Uncle Hal]

I think you are right this is pure BS so they can look good to the gays and AIDS activists. Simple as that.

[laotzu]

"We didn't censor them..."

It was sarcasm.

[laotzu]

"We didn't censor them..."

It was sarcasm.