Director Brian De Palma has turned his sights on the Iraq War in his new movie, Redacted, and it’s been met with another boycott demand by Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly. The film covers the dirty work done by US soldiers in Iraq–including murder and rape–and is based on an actual incident involving a young Iraqi girl. It also criticizes the media for sugar-coated reporting instead of showing the true calamities of the war. O’Reilly claims De Palma will be responsible for more American deaths in Iraq by inciting Muslim hatred, even though Redacted is indisputably an anti-war film.
Not satisfied with blasting De Palma, O’Reilly is also going after billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner and amateur dancer Mark Cuban, whose Magnolia Films financed the film. The anchor got hopping mad, claiming in a scolding rant that General Patton would have “slapped the tar out of” Cuban. That would make a historical showdown for the ages, with Cuban firing back, “there is every bit of me that just wants to say, ‘Bill O’Reilly is a moron.'”
O’Reilly has called on Mavs fans to bring “support the troops” signs to American Airlines Center even though they’re probably more concerned with avenging this year’s playoff defeat to the Golden State Warriors. Let’s wait and see if Commissioner Stern will have to step in.