Morgan Freeman is mad about GOP's Morgan Freeman impersonator ad

I'm always in a ridiculously sunny mood on election day, regardless of whether things look bright or (in today's case) unbelievably gloomy for most of my favorite candidates. I suspect that a big part of that optimism comes from the wonderful small town atmosphere at my local polling place. I live in the flats of Brentwood, which rarely feels like a cozy small town, but on election day, my polling spot--at the local Christian Science Reading Room--is manned by a host of homespun retirees who look like they could all have been living in Ames, Iowa. Everyone has a smile, a friendly greeting and smells like they had buckwheat pancakes for breakfast.

If only they knew what happened this past week in North Carolina, they wouldn't look so gosh-darned cheerful. It's been a season of attack ads everywhere you look, so no one is shocked by anything nasty that anyone has had to say about anyone else. But B.J. Lawson, the GOP challenger running against Democratic incumbent David Price in the district surrounding Chapel Hill, has taken God's name in vain--in other words, he's used a Morgan Freeman impersonator who pretended to be the famous Oscar winning actor, narrating a Lawson ad poor-mouthing his opponent.

Freeman, a longtime supporter of Democratic candidates who is repped by Stan Rosenfield (yes, the same publicist who said that Charlie Sheen's recent drunken hotel-trashing spree was brought on by an allergic reaction to medication), wasn't happy to discover that a lot of people in North Carolina thought he was lending his voice to a GOP insurgent. According to a post by Politico's Ben Smith, after Lawson and his campaign manager claimed that Freeman had done their ad, the actor angrily responded: "These people are lying. I have never recorded any campaign ads for B.J. Lawson and I do not support his candidacy. And no one who represents me ever has ever authorized the use of my name, voice or any other likeness."

Ouch! Even worse, the GOP candidate's campaign did a lousy job of dissembling when confronted with the impersonator issue. Instead of immediately apologizing, Lawson's campaign manager initially said "we have a contract saying it's Morgan Freeman," explaining that they'd been approached by a campaign supporter, with a supposedly impressive portfolio of work with other showbiz celebrities, who had offered to cut an ad with Freeman. Now that Freeman has gone public, the campaign is finally pulling the ad, admitting that they'd been bamboozled and saying "this is obviously not what we want to be talking about" a day before voting.

What is a just punishment? I say all of Lawson's campaign staff should be forced to watch Freeman and Antonio Banderas in "Thick as Thieves," a heist thriller made a couple of years ago that was such a stinker it went straight to DVD without a theatrical release. I'm guessing the heist in the movie didn't turn out any better than the Lawson campaign ad. 

Photo: Morgan Freeman at the 14th annual Hollywood Awards Gala in Beverly Hills last month.

Credit: David Livingston/Getty Images

 

Comments

[DougH]

Dummies... The damage is already done. I doubt that everyone that saw the ad sees the apology. Freeman should sue them for 10 time what they are worth. The GOP is full of these kinds of dishonest, low-life attacks. As long as they win, they don't care. The only problem is: They don't have the slightest idea of how to govern. How did George Bush put it? "Screw me once, shame on you. ????? Well, ????? Can't get screwed again." Apparently the rank and file GOP voter is ready to bend over again even in these hard times.

[Ron Workman]

Yawn....

[The Real]

Morgan Feeman is a tool.

[GT]

I live in California and have long retained my mobile phone of which the number is from my native state of North Carolina. I have received recorded political calls from both North Carolina and California this year...the first time in my seven years of residency in California. One of the calls was from the "Morgan Freeman" reenactor two days ago...he wasn't very good.

[mike]

Doug,

It it not just Republicans that are rejecting Obama and the Democrats, so when the Demo's get the dead to vote, its ok? Any the Left trying to make the Tea Party into a bunch of racist. The American people are not as stupid as you think.

If this were 1776, you would be a Loyalist. Let's see, while people were getting tossed out of their homes because they lost their jobs, and Obama was focused, bailing out the banks, then on Health Care, now it is the Gays; by the time he gets around to looking at the economy the country will be up the creek with out a paddle.

[Lux Veritas]

Like this campaign truly thought it was the real Morgan Freeman. Riiiiight.

[mlimberg]

Morgan, just make movies and let American's run the Country. You my television friend have lost your way and direction.

[Eric]

doug h, obviously this a truly pathetic, but please spare me if you think this ugliness is exculsive to the g.o.p. You should see some of the filth that was put out there this year against republican (and democrat) candidates where I live. I am afraid there is no high and mighty when it comes to this stuff, and sadly you don't have to be Carnac the Magnificent to see its going to get worse before it gets better.

[MarkR]

The shame is that this kind of shenanigans is allowed at all. Sadly politicians have become past masters of the abuse of 1st Amendment rights, and lie at will.
Anyone hurt by their lies can sue, or demand that an ad be removed, but the damage has already been done and no apology ever successfully fixes the problems created.
Worst of all are the politicians who can always tell you how bad the other guy is, but can't offer one single reason why they'd be any better. What we voters get is the winner of the race to the bottom and the worst politicians money can buy.

[YingYang]

DougH- According to http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/10/29/Dems-negative-more-often-than-GOP-in-ads/UPI-23381288354008/

Democrats are king of negative, non issue, personality attacking adds.
You can’t Paton a voice. What they did was low? Yes. Illegal? Nope!
We got screwed twice by Bush, then lied to and triple screwed by Obama. He can’t get it done with a supermajority, and you say he CAN govern? LOL! It actually would be funny if it wasn’t so sad for everyone. We only have 2 parties, so......Any other suggestions, the last one blew up in our face.

Funny point, Democrats outnumber Republicans. How could ONE Republican get voted in without Democrat votes? They CANT. The Democrats are plenty upset at themselves.