Michael Moore has spent nearly three decades burnishing his Everyman persona.
And, little by little, that image has started to fray.
The biggest blow came when elements of his divorce proceedings became public. Divorce is often contentious. Few people outside the public eye would like their divorce details to hit the news.
Still, Moore’s separation showed the unabashed socialist owned nine homes at the time. When capitalism’s biggest critic reaps the benefits of the system he despises it’s newsworthy.
He also has been sharing stories about repeated attempts on his life which sound suspicious on numerous fronts. Very few press outlets have pursued the matter.
The latest hit on his public persona comes from an unexpected source: Leonard Maltin and his daughter, Jessie Maltin. Leonard Maltin, a veteran film critic, author and now REELZ movie expert, shared a personal video on Twitter blasting Moore on two significant fronts.
First, Maltin says Moore stiffed workers who helped his Michigan-based film festival.
Secondly, Maltin says the far-left filmmaker, who he “respects and admires,” slandered his “dear friends” Deborah and Chapin Culter from Boston Light & Sound from the stage at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
“I can’t sit by silently,” the critic said in a video posted to Twitter.
Maltin says the filmmakers had to sue Moore, whose new film Fahrenheit 11/9 opens Sept. 19, to recover more than $150,000 for services rendered to the Traverse City Film Festival. Moore founded the event in 2005 and continues as its very public face.
According to Maltin, Moore called the lawsuit a “personal vendetta” during a recent TIFF appearance.
While many film scribes wade into the culture wars Maltin sticks to the filmmaking facts. He’s not the sort to attack someone in such a fashion.
He made an exception here.
“They’re decent, hard-working people who hire decent, hard-working people,” Maltin says in the video of his friends. “Michael Moore is a man who’s always stood up for the little guy … don’t smear Boston Light & Sound. They don’t deserve that.”
His daughter shared a number of Tweets accusing Moore of similar actions against past employees.
Is Moore’s mistreatment of employees another “open secret” in Hollywood? Could Moore’s progressive bona fides have stopped some within Hollywood from blowing the whistle on him?
Hollywood in Toto has reached out to Moore’s representatives for comment.
[Cross-posted from Hollywood in Toto.]
