O'Donnell, Sheen Back 9/11 Conspiracy Theories
Stars Cite Movie As Evidence Of Government Conspiracy
CBS News March 22, 2007 Andrew Kirtzman
(CBS) NEW YORK
A controversial new film about 9/11 is raising eyebrows, not only for its content, but also for the people involved in the project: Rosie O'Donnell and Charlie Sheen. The sitcom actor and talk show hostess have both become spokespeople for the 9/11 conspiracy movement. "If the government is lying about flight 93, is it hard to believe the rest is a lie?" That line can be heard on the video "Loose Change," which has been floating around the Internet for years, but now Sheen is in talks with Magnolia Pictures to narrate a new version of the video and redistribute it. Sheen believes the government may have been behind the attacks, and said so in a recent interview. "I have a hard time believing a fireball traveled down the elevator over 1100 feet, and still had the explosive energy to destroy the lobby as it was described," Sheen said on "The Alex Jones Show." Meanwhile, O'Donnell has been using her Web site to reprint excerpts from the 9/11 conspiracy site, Whatreallyhappened.com. The conspiracy theorists believe that the government blew up the twin towers and covered up the evidence by making it appear that commercial airplanes flew into the buildings. They also believe al-Qaida had nothing to do with the attacks. "I know it's hard to imagine the government would intentionally murder almost 3000 innocent people, but once you begin to accept that possibility you can never go back to the 19 Arabs," the movie's narrator goes on to say. James Meigs is Editor in Chief of Popular Mechanics magazine, which published a book debunking the conspiracy theories put forth in the film and online. He says "Loose Change" has no merit whatsoever. "It is a brilliantly patched-together stew of all kinds of misconceptions, misquotes and real mistakes about how things really worked on that day," said Meigs. Magnolia Films founder Mark Cuban, who also owns the Dallas Mavericks, said they're also looking for a film telling the other side of the story, saying "we like controversial subjects."