Michael Moore booed as he slams Iraq war at Oscars
Famed US documentary maker Michael Moore used his win of an Oscar to launch a violent attack on US President George W. Bush and war in Iraq amid loud boos from the audience.
“We live in fictitious times,” he said when picking up the award for best documentary for his anti-gun film “Bowling for Columbine.”
“We live in a time with fictitious election results that elect fictitious presidents. We live in a time when we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons.
“We are against this war Mr Bush. Shame on you. Shame on you!,” he said to loud boos from an audience of 3,500 including most of Hollywood’s top stars.
Actually, he was initially cheered with his protest and then the boos began, but it seemed half and half, really. Oh well, if you didn’t expect this you obviously don’t know who Michael Moore is.
1441 MORE: Michael Moore criticizes U.S. war in Iraq in Oscar speech
A standing ovation and a handful of jeers from Hollywood’s elite greeted filmmaker Michael Moore when he criticized President Bush and the U.S.-led war in Iraq during his acceptance speech Sunday after winning the documentary feature Oscar for “Bowling for Columbine.”
“We live in fictitious times. We live in the time where we have fictitious election results that elect a fictitious president. We live in a time where we have a man who’s sending us to war for fictitious reasons, whether it’s the fiction of duct tape or the fiction of orange alerts,” Moore said.
Applause gave way to some boos, as the orchestra began to play the filmmaker off the stage.
“We are against this war, Mr. Bush. Shame on you, Mr. Bush. Shame on you,” Moore shouted, surrounded onstage by his fellow nominees in a show of solidarity.
“It was so sweet backstage, the teamsters are helping Michael Moore into the trunk of his limo,” host Steve Martin joked later.