9/11 docudrama producer spreads 'Hillary blocking DVD' story
Clinton campaign denies attempts to intervene
A conservative writer/producer of the controversial ABC TV miniseries "The Path to 9/11" is telling anyone who will listen that Bill and Hillary Clinton are trying to block its release on DVD because of Hillary Clinton's presidential run.
Cyrus Nowrasteh, the producer, has offered little proof for his claim, beyond some conspiratorial dot-connecting and a vague admonition he said he heard from an unnamed ABC executive. The Clinton campaign denies trying to erect any roadblocks to the miniseries release.
"We didn't know anything about this DVD until we read about it in the LAT," Clinton campaign spokesman Phil Singer told RAW STORY.
Nowrasteh, one of the miniseries' many writers and producers, says ABC executives are trying to torpedo video release of "The Path to 9/11," which critics say paints an unflattering portrait of Bill Clinton's administration and its efforts to track Osama bin Laden.
Nowrasteh's claim was first reported in Wednesday's Los Angeles Times, and he has made several appearances on Fox News and conservative talk radio since then repeating the claim.
"If Hillary weren't running for president, this wouldn't be a problem," Nowrasteh said an ABC Studios executive told him, according to the Times. In an appearance Thursday on Fox News, Nowrasteh modified that claim slightly, saying the warning came from an executive at Disney, ABC's parent company.
Nowrasteh has been accused of being a conservative activist, and talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh has referred to him as a "friend." The writer/producer offered no evidence beyond the unnamed executive's admonition of involvement by Clinton or her campaign.
Media Matters accused the Times of ignoring substantial factual inaccuracies in the miniseries in its report of Nowrasteh's accusations, and a blogger at News Hounds speculated the emerging controversy could be little more than an elaborate PR stunt.
"If the Clintons are supposedly powerful enough to block the release of the DVD, why didn't they block the original airing of movie on ABC," the blog asked. "Wouldn't it make business sense to wait until after the Emmys to release the DVD? If the movie wins, wouldn't there be bigger profits? Also doesn't this little hissy fit over the DVD seem like an obvious PR stunt(?) Nowrasteh gets everyone all worked up over the mean Clintonistas making them want to buy the DVD that makes Clinton take the heat instead of Bush. Come to think of it, if ABC wasn't in on this ploy, wouldn't Nowrasteh be taking a chance ticking them off with his media whining?"
An ABC spokeswoman could not comment directly on Nowrasteh's charge and would tell RAW STORY only that the DVD "has no release date at this time." The online retailer Amazon says, "We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock."
Nowrasteh told a radio interview he took the ABC executive's suggestion "very seriously," and he argued that voters should have wider access to the docudrama's accusations prior to deciding for whom they would vote.
"Why wait to see if she's going to be the next president?" Nowrasteh asked radio host John Ziegler on his Los Angeles-based show. "Let's get it out now before ... the meat of this campaign really starts and let people see the miniseries."
Nowrasteh has said he was told the DVD would be released at the beginning of this year, then he heard it would be released in spring, and after the release was delayed again he began to suspect meddling on behalf of the Clintons.
In the radio interview, and an appearance this week on The O'Reilly Factor, Nowrasteh acknowledged the controversy, but he said the miniseries still should be released. He even suggested giving Clinton administration officials like Madeline Albright and Sandy Berger "an hour on the (DVD) special features" to refute its claims.
It's unlikely that any former offer was made because "that's not how it usually works," Gord Lacey, founder of tvshowsondvd.com, told RAW STORY. Decisions about special features generally come after a DVD has been formally slated for release, he said.
Lacey suggested several possible reasons that can delay the release of DVDs, such as potential complications over licensing agreements, or delays tied to the possibility the series will win prestigious awards. "The Path to 9/11" has been nominated for seven Emmys.
"Maybe they are looking to release it after the Emmys," which air Sept. 16, Lacey suggested. "...Maybe they want to slap that sticker on it that says, 'Winner of X (number of) Emmys.'"
"The Path to 9/11" generated substantial controversy prior to it's airing last year. Critics said the film was inaccurately promoted as an unbiased look at the events prior to the epic terrorist attacks, when in fact it was a partisan effort aimed at blaming the attacks on Bill Clinton and members of his administration.
In her run for president, Clinton has received, $34,800 in donations from employees of ABC Studios or Walt Disney, the network's parent company, according to a campaign finance database.
ABC suffered "considerable financial losses," the Times reported, when it was unable to attract advertisers for the $40 million, five-hour miniseries, which aired in conjunction with last year's fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. The series drew more than 25 million viewers over two nights and has garnered seven Emmy nominations, but its future on DVD remains unclear.
"Whatever anyone may think about me or this movie, this is a bad precedent, a dangerous precedent, to allow a movie to be buried," Nowrasteh, who received death threats even before the miniseries was broadcast last September, told the Times. "Because the next time they'll go after another movie. The Bush administration may go after a movie. The next administration may go after a movie. No matter who it is, they may go after a movie. I think this town needs to stand up."
Around the time the miniseries aired, ABC planned to release it for free on Apple's online music and video store iTunes and offer a free stream on the network's Web site. It's unclear whether "The Path to 9/11" ever was distributed on iTunes, but the docudrama is no longer available for download. ABC offers several other shows for download from iTunes, ranging from its popular Lost series to Commander in Chief, which starred Geena Davis as the first female US president and was canceled in the middle of its first season.
The DVD's absence from store shelves has attracted little notice aside from conservative commentators such as talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh.
"By the way, Disney, where's the DVD for Path to 9/11?" Limbaugh asked earlier this month, targeting ABC's parent company. "I mean, I got the third season of House on DVD yesterday, and that show didn't end until May."
Limbaugh has referred to Nowrasteh as "a friend of mine," but the writer/producer told the Times he does not regularly socialize with the conservative talker.
ABC's apparent decision to shelve the decision has not prompted reaction from others involved in the film.
But one prominent Hollywood director, famed for his liberal views and often-conspiratorial films, has come to Nowrasteh's defense.
"This is a shame; it's censorship in the most blatant way," filmmaker Oliver Stone, who has hired Nowrasteh for several writing projects, told the Times. "I'm not vouching for its accuracy -- it's a dramatization -- but it's an important work and needs to be seen."
The following video is from Fox's Big Story, broadcast on September 6.
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