Heaven forbid celebrities should use their status to help get money to grieving families. O'Reilly pounced on Clooney, making baselss accusations that the money raised wasn't going to the families. Clooney sent
a great letter to O'Reilly back then:
Mr. O'Reilly,
On the evening of October 31st you ran a story that has no basis in truth. What is not important is your attack of the performers who gave their time to raise money during the telethon for the September 11th fund. What is important is your accusation that the fund is being mishandled and misused. That sir, as you know, is nothing short of a lie.
The fund is intact and has already handed out some 36 million dollars to victims' families (fifteen thousand checks), with over $230 million more to be allocated as The United Way sorts through the complicated process of who is in the most need. To have given out all of the money only six weeks after it was raised, would truly be irresponsible. If you were a journalist you would have known that.
If you were doing your job you would have also known that the person put in place to run the September 11 Fund is a man named Frank Thomas. Now that's not the baseball player Bill, but rather the man who headed the Ford Foundation for several years. The Ford Foundation, Mr. O'Reilly, is one of the greatest charitable organizations in the world..... (Not a car dealership.... but I'm sure you knew that). Mr. Thomas is a man respected worldwide and I would enjoy watching you question his character publicly.
.....No Mr. O'Reilly, even you wouldn't do that.
So, let's re-cap.
The fund is not only the most successful single fundraiser ever (over 260 million dollars); it is also doing exactly what it is designed to do. Responsibly. The money is going out to the right people and to make certain of this, the United Way is taking some time.
It took one phone call to find this information. One phone call you did not make. But hey, it's the first week of sweeps and you need to run a hard-hitting expose' of irresponsible, pampered performers and try to bait them on your show with inflammatory statements. I'm sure it must have been frustrating for you that not one person took the bait. Hell Bill, even McCarthy got a few people to show up.
Here's the problem, and why I'm forced to respond: People are coming up to me and asking if it's true that the telethon was a fraud. That means the next time we try to raise money, like when the CD from the telethon comes out this month, fewer people will participate. Because of your unsubstantiated, untrue statements about the September 11 Fund, You, Mr. O'Reilly will be taking money away from people who need it....and all because it's the first week of sweeps.
I will say this; you were right about one thing. You accused all of the performers of lying. You named them one by one and read each of their excuses for not responding to you.
Tom Cruise, "Too busy".
Brad Pitt, "Too busy to respond".
Tom Hanks.....you get the idea.
You're right, Mr. O'Reilly, we lied...all of us. Of course we weren't too busy. And if you were Peter Jennings, or Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, Charlie Rose, The Washington Post, New York Times, LA Times, or pretty much anybody else, we would have dropped everything and explained what we know. You see Bill, these are journalists. So, yes we lied when we said we were too busy to do your "entertainment show". We were just trying to not hurt your feelings.
I can't wait to see what's in store for the February sweeps.
Your biggest fan,
George
Have I mentioned how much I love George Clooney?
So was O'Reilley forced to eat crow on his own show? Nah, crow is never on the menu on the factor! Instead, in the no-spin zone, he spinned it of course. He claimed how only $35 million has been distributed, in that "hey, these are the facts...no, no, don't change the channel!" type of attitude he gets.
Flash forward a few years and here we are. Same O'Reillian shit, different day. Clooney is planning another telethon, this time for the tsunami victims. What does O'Reilly have to say? (Why does he have to say anything at all?)
You may remember that in the aftermath of the 9/11 attack, there was a celebrity-driven TV telethon that raised millions for the affected families. And now, there will be another telethon raising money for those hurt by those the tsunami.
And once again, our pal [actor] George Clooney will be involved. You may also remember that Clooney strenuously objected to "The Factor" investigation that uncovered problems in distributing the 9/11 money, even though we proved our case and the Red Cross revamped its entire operation because of it.
Clooney objected to many things, but one of them was my insistence that if celebrities ask for money, they have a moral obligation to see the donations go where they're supposed to go. -- Clooney disagreed.
So now we're back in the same spot. A national TV telethon will raise millions and "The Factor" will be watching to see if the money gets to the tsunami victims. If it does not, there will be trouble. And this time nobody can say they weren't warned.
If George Clooney and other stars go on TV and ask you to give, then they had better be involved all the way down the line. Now I don't expect the celebrities to audit the books, but if problems are brought to their attention, they must help solve those problems.
Sending billions of dollars into chaotic areas is fraught with danger, even if is the right thing to do. Americans must demand reasonable accountability.
We expect some of the money to be stolen or wasted. But we also expect American authorities to hold people accountable and to let us know if bad things are happening.
Let's gloss right over the remarkable irony of the phrase "Americans must demand reasonable accountability" coming from a right-winger's mouth, shall we? What we see here is, as Clooney states in his letter below, a "pre-emptive" strike, a "look at me! I don't want you to think about loofahs or falafel!" action taken by a so-called journalist in desparate need to villainize someone else:
Mr. O'Reilly,
In response to your lead story on January 6, where you attack the Sept. 11 telethon, it is incumbent upon me to help you get your facts straight.
First, to clarify, it was not the Red Cross but the United Way that sponsored that telethon... an easy mistake to make... if you're 3.
Second, contrary to what you claim, no one objected to you investigating where the funds were going, but we strenuously objected to you insinuating that it was a fraud (which is what you did) as we were still waiting for a list of names of the dead. 6,000 was the number when you broadcast your attack (some 3,000 was the real number), that is simply a fact... no spin. There's no question, sir, that you have become quite powerful. The panic that you started that week scared other charitable organizations into simply handing out money to anyone who walked into their office. I suppose the threat of a Senate investigation would scare most anybody. It was an interesting week though... you showed up on the Today Show to talk about the telethon, but when pressed by Matt Lauer, admitted that you would only talk about the scandal if they hawked your new book. Fact... no spin.
You said your tactics weren't about ratings, and that same week took out ads bragging about beating Larry King for the first time, all while Eliot Spitzer and Frank Thomas and Josh Gotbaum were weeding through the difficult task of who was dead and who was not.
I don't make as much money as you, Mr. O'Reilly (a fact that's easy to check), but I'm fascinated by your use of the word CELEBRITY as if you're not one... you put on make up, you do Leno, The Today Show, go on book tours, and do junkets, so let's be clear... you are a well paid celebrity. Period. No spin. And, to quote you last week, "with power comes responsibility"... people canceled their pledges because YOU told them that the telethon was flawed... a lot of money that should have gone to a lot of needy families didn't, because you wanted a controversy... and controversy has made you a celebrity... remember, sir, that this is me you're talking to publicly. I was the one you called several times the day before the telethon to say that we "had to include `The Factor'" in the press interviews, and that it "wasn't fair to leave us out, we're a news program". Fact... no spin. I think people should know that.
Now, here's the only important fact: the 9/11 telethon was an unqualified success from the beginning to the present and we make sure of it. (I say WE because I'm on the board of directors of the United Way).
Your report last Thursday was a preemptive strike... NOT to protect the families affected by the tsunami, but to create more controversy for your own personal gain. Because of it, fewer people will donate money to help truly traumatized victims; they'll be afraid that their money will do no good.
So all right, Mr. Journalist... come on in. I'm booking the talent for the Tsunami event... and you, Mr. O'Reilly, are now officially invited to be a presenter... (at this point, not one of the people I've invited to donate their time has said "No")... this way, You can personally follow up on our fundraising... this is your chance to put your considerable money where your considerable mouth is... show up... help raise money... and if we're doing something wrong, point it out. I believe firmly in the check and balance system... you'll get nothing but a handshake and a "Thanks for helping out" from all of the rest of us "celebrities".
So what do you say, Mr. O'Reilly... either you ante up and help out AND be that watch dog that you feel we clearly need... or you simply stand on the sidelines and cast stones, proving that your January 6 TV show was nothing more than a "box of lights and wires" designed to make you wealthy.
We do the show this Saturday, it's across the street from where you shoot "The Factor".
I'll need a quick response.
Your fan,
George Clooney
Have I mentioned, again, how much I love George Clooney? And how does Mr. Falafel respond to the invite?
That sounds good to me but I have to see what the format is. I would like to go over there and check things out whether I make a pitch or not depends on how organized things are."
Oh, so O'Reilly will "check things out", make sure things are organized, and THEN bless the fundraiser with his presence. Yeah, best to be careful with what you do, we wouldn't want you weakening the O'Reilly brand name or anything.
The falafel truth is that George Clooney is awesome, and O'Reilly just looks more and more like an ass every day.
I declare that us lefties should embrace a new political stategery of Clooneyism. Clooneyism shall entail:
- The heavy use of sarcasm and irony in dialogues about the right.
- Calling the right on their bullshit and not being afraid to use the "L" word. (not THAT "L" word.) Lie.
- Challenge the right constantly. You don't like our election reform? Well, Mr. Delay, we have a seat right here for you on our Committee For Election Reform, care to serve? Hey, Denny Hastert! Care to join us in a press conference about the slashing of Pell Grants? No?
- Not being intimidated by the likes of FOX and such. Standing up for the left, put the right on offensive, make them write letters and make statements to justify their positions.
I really do love George Clooney. What do you guys think?
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