In the story, Moore is also quoted defending actor Tom Cruise, saying "his religion is his own damn business." Two paragraphs later, though, the corpulent moviemaker makes fun of actor Mel Gibson's religion:
Controversial filmmaker Michael Moore unveiled two new projects last night in Toronto: a documentary about the health insurance business called “Sicko” and film that chronicles the aftermath of the 2004 election, entitled “Slacker.”
Moore showed clips from both films as part of a special two-hour presentation at the famed Elgin Theater. Larry Charles, director of the new comedy “Borat” and well-known from his work on the TV show “Seinfeld,” conducted the program that also consisted of a long, funny and intimate live interview with Moore.
The evening was almost marred by a faulty projector that caused Moore’s clips to be interrupted several times. The same thing apparently happened one night earlier during a screening of “Borat.” Moore jumped on stage and did shtick with Charles for the packed house. Last night, Charles returned the favor.
And while clips from both new Moore movies looked tantalizing, it was the director himself who made the biggest headlines with revelations about his life since becoming a lightning rod for controversy with “Roger and Me” some 17 years ago.For one thing, Moore revealed that in the days after he won the Academy Award for “Bowling from Columbine,” he was harassed on the street, physically attacked with a cup of hot Starbucks coffee and subjected to having manure dumped on his front yard by neighbors.
Moore also defended actor Tom Cruise and revealed a secret story about Mel Gibson.
Of the former, he said: “It’s time to stop picking on Tom Cruise. What is his crime? Jumping on a couch? Actors are supposed to different. They’re not accountants. His religion is own damn business, no matter what planet it’s from. He’s not firing rockets into Iraq.”But the Gibson story was far more interesting. Moore says that right after the 2004 election he was told by Time Magazine that he and Gibson would share the Person of the Year award. They each agreed and were brought to Los Angeles for an interview and photograph. The whole thing was very hush hush. But on the day it was supposed to happen, Gibson suddenly backed out, and for no apparent reason.
“Something happened overnight,” Moore said. “You know he has a church on his property. He must have talked to God, and he said, “No f——in’ way you’re doing this.”
The result, Moore pointed out, was that George W. Bush was named Man of the Year. Talk about irony.
