DREAMWORKS EXECS TO ROCK: NO BUSH BASHING

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XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX THU MARCH 27, 2003 10:03:25 ET XXXXX
**Exclusive**

Comedian Chris Rock has been strongly advised not to engage in any Bush-bashing during the promotion of his new film HEAD OF STATE, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

Rock once said of Bush: "He's not stupid, he's just drunk," adding, "All the black people who voted for Bush are both on his cabinet."

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DREAMWORKS is preparing to release the comedy wide on Friday. There are deep concerns that Rock may unleash a fresh diatribe on President Bush and the Iraq war, studio insiders reveal, which could ignite a public backlash and boycott of the film.

In the movie, Rock plays a character who is the Democratic party's choice for its 2004 presidential nomination. Rock is also director, producer and co-scenarist.

"We are confident Chris knows this is not the appropriate time to make jokes about war and the president," said one top studio source. "We don't want to get Dixie-Chicked, or anything like that, out of the gate. We've invested tens of millions of dollars in the making of the movie and its marketing."

For his part, sources say Chris Rock has decided to maintain a neutral point of view on Bush if he is prodded to comment during any press promotion for HEAD.

On a recent guest spot on OPRAH, Rock cautiously offered: "We're not really going into war. The Army in the wa--war--we haven't experienced war in the United States since the Civil War. We don't--I--I--I almost think if we knew what war was, we wouldn't be so quick to jump into it, you know what I mean?"

Developing...

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Filed By Matt Drudge
Reports are moved when circumstances warrant
http://www.drudgereport.com for updates
(c)DRUDGE REPORT 2003

Rock denies takes on Drudge

Thu Mar 27, 9:11 PM

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Comedian Chris Rock (news) wants fans to know that contrary to reports from media gossip Matt Drudge, he "never had any intention of bashing President Bush (news - web sites)" for launching the U.S.-led war in Iraq (news - web sites).

And yes, he would like all and sundry to know that his new movie, "Head of State," his directorial debut in which he plays a politician who ends up running for president, opens Friday -- that's this Friday, March 28 in theaters across the country.

"I never met Matt Drudge, but if I see Matt Drudge, I'm going to take my red-blooded American foot and put it up his un-American (backside) for trying to disrupt the opening of my movie," Rock said in a statement on Thursday.

The statement, which mentioned the date of the film's opening three times in three paragraphs, was in response to an article by Drudge reporting that Rock "has been strongly advised" by executives of the film's distributor, DreamWorks SKG, "not to engage in any Bush-bashing."

Drudge said DreamWorks executives feared that Rock, who once said of Bush, "He's not stupid, he's just drunk," might spark a public backlash against the film if he made public comments ridiculing the president or the war in Iraq.

A DreamWorks spokesman denied that anyone had sought to muzzle Rock. Reuters/Variety

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