Guess the Oscar victory curse is starting early for Marion Cotillard, who is already facing backlash and demands that she return her statuette — not for anything she’s done on screen, but for unearthed comments from an old interview in which she suggested that the World Trade Center collapse was engineered by its owners and was not the work of terrorists, and that the 1969 moon landing never happened. It doesn’t look like the controversy is going away anytime soon, since Cotillard (via her agent) is refusing to apologize and notes that there are plenty of other places besides America where she can find film work. (Shades of Spinal Tap’s manager insisting that the cancellation of a Boston gig is no big deal because "it’s not a big college town.")
Now, as someone who was in New York on 9/11, yeah, I do find such comments offensive, but I’m satisfied to chalk them up to stupidity rather than malice. Won’t stop me from going to see Cotillard’s next movie. If every star who spouted 9/11 conspiracy theories were drummed out of showbiz, Charlie Sheen would be out of a job. So would Rosie O’Donnell. (Oh, wait…) And if everyone in Hollywood who ever did or said something that was stupid or offensive (to someone) were forced out of work, the only performer left standing would be Elle Fanning. Celebrities have the right to shoot their mouths off, and so do you. Have at it.
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Return her Oscar?!?! That’s crazy. Oscar’s should be based on the performance alone (and hers was amazing), not politics. How crazy, nice or stupid she, or any other actor is, is irrelevant.
She’s still young and she lives overseas. The folk overseas from the Middle Easterners to the Europeans don’t believe 9/11 is all it’s cranked up to be and there are a lot of theories out there. Even here in this country people are saying that Bush is behind 9/11…yadayada….but to demand that she give her statuette back is silly. If anything she will find MORE work overseas; she may not have Americans go see her work, but she’s probably got a sympathetic ear overseas. I remember the French being criticized after 9/11 and when they didn’t support us, congressmen wanted to rename French fries — absolutely silliness. It’s probably just five people asking for her give-back. She did an admirable job, she earned it, fuggedaboutit.
I just find it interesting that once someone gets a little notoriety we are all (and I am including myself) so interested in their views on global terrorism or the current economic stimulus package. Obviously giving up her Oscar would be ridiculous as it had nothing to do with her views on the moon landing that happened, I’m guessing, a good decade before she was even born. She may just be young – but she is a hell of a performer. Imagine the entertainment we would have missed if the first time Barbra Streisand opened her mouth in controversy she would have been shipped overseas. God Bless America!
I was in New York on Sept. 11th, and that was one of the most terrifying days of my life. And yet, two years later, i speculated that it just didn’t seem right that they came down so fast. Like there was something more behind it. and I was certain tat the U.S. government knew about it before it happenned. The mind tries to make sense out of tragedy in a way that you will feel safe. I don’t mind what she said… she’s truly a gifted actor, and I will continue to search out her work. Now the Moon Landing, clearly she’s got an over-active imagination. But isn’t that exactly what makes her so brilliant in the role that won her, her justly deserved Academy Award. I for one think Julie Christie is responsible for the leak of the magazine articles. But that’s just me!
Yesterday I tried to bring it up at work, and then we ended up talking about how brilliant she was in La Vie en Rose. Conclusion we came down to: The Media Cares about this a lot. We the people: Not so much.
Yawn! Many non-Americans have some wacky conspiracy theories about 9/11. It would be one thing if she said we deserved it (which I personally have heard and find VERY offensive). I look forward to her next role!
To suggest she should give back her oscar is ridiculous, of course. She can say whatever she wants. But for those of you who dismiss what she says because she’s “young”…she’s a 32 year old woman! Surely that makes her old enough to be responsible for what she says.
This amazes me. Why is the media so obsessed with this? So what if she questions somethings legitimacy. It is certainly no grounds to have her stripped of her Oscar. This is simply another case of the media trying to spin this into a bigger story than it really is. As Eli already said – we common folk could care less.
There’s different kind of offensive, and hers is the kind of offensive that’s just not newsworthy. It’s sad, pathetic and delusional, but not controversial. There are loons with that kind of thinking all over the world. (Think of all those people that still think the Holocaust never happened.)
She won an Oscar that does not make her in any way a political or social expert, so anything she might say is as good or bad as the person next to you.
Stupidity or malice, the comments were completely degrading, and an insult to the intelligence of any New Yorker, American, or human being affected by the tragedy. And yeah, she’s adding insult to injury by not apologizing. I don’t think they should take her Oscar away (she was wonderful in La Vie en Rose), but it’s disappointing that her agent is shrugging the matter off. Take responsibility for your actions!
Mos Def said the same thing on Real Time with Bill Maher.
And white people love Mos Def.
Thank you so much for saying that, Gary.
Looks like The View just found another panelist.
While there’s no doubt the comment is offensive and insensitive, I agree with Catherine: Cotillard is an actress, not some sort of social expert or any sort of authority on the matter. Her crazy opinion is no different in my eyes, than the same crazy opinion coming from your average non-Oscar winning schmos.
What I’m really interested in talking about is why this year-old interview is resurfacing now. I mean, do we honestly think this would’ve been brought up this week if Julie Christie or Ellen Page had won the Oscar?
Just do some research on 9/11 truth, and you will see that there are many scientists, architects, and other experts who find it curious that the Twin Towers collapsed the way that they did. Even the owner of Tower 7 admitted on tv that he gave the okay to “take down” Tower 7, even though the 9/11 Commision Report states otherwise. I fail to see how questioning the official story would be offensive to New Yorkers. If something like that happened in my city, I would want answers.
Big deal. She’s entitled to her opinion and shouldn’t have to apologize. Why is this news? She’s not the first to question 9/11, and her comments are years old. Who cares? Next!
Mos Def is an idiot, too. But he didn’t just win an oscar and probably won’t ever command the kind of attention that Cotillard is attracting right now.
It amazes me that this is big news. Like others have said … If she didn’t win the Oscar this would never have surfaced again.
It’s simply her opinion based on what she has seen and heard and nothing more. It doesn’t change the fact that she did a wonderful performance.
If she has the right to mouth off (she does), then we also have the right to be offended. We don’t have the right to take her Oscar away (that’s silly), but we can be angered by such remarks.
I agree with Gary – her comments were offensive. But it’s not like there aren’t many others out there who believe some sort of 9/11 conspiracy theory. What I find fascinating is the weight people are giving to this person’s opinion – she won an Oscar, thus we should care about her nutjob political ideas? Why? We wouldn’t care if presidential candidates started spewing about the intricacies of film making, so why is it such news when actors spout off about politics?
EvilCornbread, I know which blog you’ve been reading!
Her comments are only offensive, if you believe them! It’s like the crazy guy on the subway, he may say some crazy stuff but you don’t believe any of it so you just say “okayyy” and move on. This is obvs a slow news year for entertainment journalists.
I agree with the majority that this is a non-event. The linked article on her interview was quite interesting (i.e. her views on 9/11 stem from a bestseller she had read but which I was unfamiliar). I thought the most interesting thing out of all of this was contrasting her commments on 9/11 and the moon landing. Speculating about terrorist activity and war actions is very commonplace (remember the conspiracy theories after Pearl Harbor?), and let’s face it – having a healthy skepticism about our govt in general since Desert Storm is warranted. However, the moon landing? That’s just goofy. What’s next; the earth isn’t round?
I’m supposed to be diligently working but the Spinal Tap reference made me burst out laughing. Classic Gary!
Uh, hm. I guess I should read a full translation of the original interview – because the exerpt that is quoted in the 03/02 article is not only taken completely out of context, but at no point does she say that she thinks 9/11 and the moon landing were fakes. She says she tends to take the side of conspiracy theories and that she wonders when we are being lied to. Ack! She’s a witch! Witch, I say!! Good lord.
This is so MONDAY… and in case you haven’t noticed, it’s Tuesday and it’s all about David Hernandez of Idol being a stripper. It’s what the cool people are talking about. I just came here to point that, you guys, not the cool kids.
The world is full of idiots, and idiots say stupid things. Taking back her Oscar would be meaningless. If anything, she should keep it so she can always be reminded of her stupid comments.
Elizabeth, I didn’t realize that “cool people” were such mindless idiots! You know, it’s immature-liitle-girl comments like that, that make me happy that I have a son and not a daughter!
Who. Cares. I love how here in America we talk all about “freedom,” and as soon as someone says something we don’t like, we start making demands like, “take her Oscar away!”