And I thought yesterday afternoon was eventful on the ABC story. Here’s what we’ve learned over the last eight hours or so.
* Variety, the entertainment industry magazine, reported today that “a bombshell decision” is being considered at ABC: “Sources close to the project say the network, which has been in a media maelstrom over the pic, is mulling the idea of yanking [The Path to 9/11] altogether.”
* Bill Clinton personally weighed in on the controversy, calling on ABC to “tell the truth” in its broadcast. “I think they ought to tell the truth, particularly if they’re going to claim it’s based on the 9/11 commission’s report,” Clinton told reporters in Arkansas. “They shouldn’t have scenes that are directly contradictory to the factual findings of the 9/11 commission. I just want people to tell the truth.”
* For reasons that are not altogether clear, ABC has cancelled its web advertising for the movie.
* A group of American historians, including some of my personal favorites (Schlesinger, Wilentz, Widmer, Perlstein), called on ABC to cancel what they described as a “fraudulent” project.
* Though ABC condemned its critics yesterday for judging a movie that is still being edited, ThinkProgress reported today that as recently as a week ago, ABC told the National Review that the docudrama is “locked and ready to air.”
* Fox News’ Chris Wallace told viewers today, “[W]hen you put somebody on the screen and say that’s Madeleine Albright and she said this in a specific conversation and she never did say it, I think it’s slanderous, I think it’s defamatory and I think that ABC and Disney should be held to account.”
* TP has pulled together an impressive list of conservative critics of the movie, including Bill Bennett, John Podhoretz, and James Taranto. Good for them — ideological consistency is to be applauded.
* Madeleine Albright and Samuel Berger have sent a letter to 9/11 Commission Chairman Tom Kean, personally asking him to help kill this project. “Actors portraying us do contemptible things we never did, and say things we neither said nor believed,” they wrote. “And what’s more, in many instances these portrayals are contradicted by your Commission’s own findings…And so we ask that you use your influence to persuade ABC to withdraw the broadcast altogether.”
I hear completely unsubstantiated rumors that ABC is seriously thinking about pulling the plug on this movie, but as of this second, I haven’t seen anything resembling confirmation of this. If anyone gets word of the network’s plans, feel free to add insights in the comments section.