James Hirsen
Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2002

According to Jane Makin of People News, after being approached by a casting assistant in a shopping mall, a convicted robber was able to bypass all Hollywood security and was given, of all things, an acting role.

Unfortunately for Meg Ryan, the guy landed a spot in "Against the Ropes," the same film that she was working on. Turned out he was a murder suspect who was on the run from the police. Now detectives have asked to see footage of the film shoot.

If that wasn't enough to make the actress feel uneasy, Meg's on-screen persona broke one of Hollywood's biggest taboos of late. The movie character smoked – cigarettes.

The tobacco police have a lot of allies in Hollywood these days. One of the leading crusaders is Joe Eszterhas, who, after losing much of his larynx to throat cancer, declared that the substance "should be as illegal as heroin."

Rob Reiner, co-founder of Castle Rock Entertainment, told Time magazine that he was "appalled when he saw his studio's film, 'Proof of Life.' ... I thought, 'Wow, why is Meg Ryan smoking up a storm?'"

In a new documentary, "Scene Smoking: Cigarettes, Cinema and the Myth of the Cool," which is set to air on the Discovery Channel the same day as the Annual Great American Smokeout, Reiner goes on record to say no films made by his production company, Castle Rock Entertainment, can include characters who are smoking unless the artist personally justifies the need for it to him.

The Left Coast Report would like to point out the smoky logic. Many of the same folks in Tinseltown who want to ban cigarettes are working feverishly to legalize pot.

Beatle Riled by WWF

It seems Paul McCartney is appalled about a practice that's going on at the World Wildlife Fund. The musician, vegetarian and animal rights activist recently objected to the organization's support of animal testing.

According to the Washington Post, the former Beatle faxed a letter telling WWF Chairman William Reilly that he was "appalled to learn" the organization supports government chemical experiments under "the endocrine disrupter screening program."

McCartney was referring to an Environmental Protection Agency program, which is trying to determine the toxicity of industrial pollutants. His action was taken on behalf of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

WWF Vice President Richard N. Mott defended the program by pointing out that although thousands of animals are exposed to industrial pollutants, the animal testing is done so that "millions of animals around the world don't have to suffer through the uncontrolled chemical 'testing' that is already taking place."

The Left Coast Report notes that Mott didn't defend his practice because it would help those forgotten residents of the Earth – human beings.

Ragging on Tim McGraw

Tim McGraw's latest hit song has some radio stations and country fans fuming.

"Red Rag Top" is the first single off the album "Tim McGraw & the Dancehall Doctors." The song reminisces about a youthful relationship, which includes a surprise pregnancy and a decision "not to have a child."

Because of the implied abortion reference, country stations, particularly in the Bible Belt, have been hesitant to give the record airplay.

According to USA Today, the song was written by Nashville singer/songwriter Jason White. White commented, "I guess it's fair to say that, yeah, it's a song that has an abortion in it, but it's certainly not an 'abortion song.'" Despite how White tries to spin it, the song lyrics do include "You do what you do and you pay for your sins. There's no such thing as what might have been."

Coyote Calhoun, program director at WAMZ-FM in Louisville, told USA Today, "In my opinion, it's too much over the edge."

Calhoun offered a prediction on the song's future, saying: "There's no way this will be a #1 record. My only hope is the song peaks before anybody really pays attention to it, so I can get rid of it forever."

The Left Coast Report looks at McGraw's marriage to Faith Hill and his beautiful kids and wishes he'd stick to songs that more closely reflect the values he appears to live by.

No-Float Banana Boat

Evidently, he was deluded and confused by the far-left company he's kept for decades. On a Southern California radio talk show, Harry Belafonte recently unleashed a vicious racist attack against Secretary of State Colin Powell.

"In the days of slavery, there were those slaves who lived on the plantation and [there] were those slaves that lived in the house. Colin Powell's committed to come into the house of the master. When Colin Powell dares to suggest something other than what the master wants to hear, he will be turned back out to pasture." Powell spokesman Richard Boucher told the Washington Post that the secretary's first reaction upon hearing Belafonte's diatribe was to smile. Powell quipped that the IRS and his accountant both "thought he did better as a field hand."

Showing the class associated with his office, the highest-ranking black officeholder in American history responded to calypso singer Belafonte's slur on CNN's "Larry King Live."

"If Harry had wanted to attack my politics, that was fine. If he wanted to attack a particular position I hold, that was fine. But to use a slave reference, I think, is unfortunate and is a throwback to another time and another place that I wish Harry had thought twice about using."

The Left Coast Report thinks it's about time Belafonte came out of his masters' house – Marx, Lenin and Stalin's house, that is.

Bells Ring for Winona

With a shoplifting trial pending, Winona Ryder must have felt as if she was trapped in a time warp.

According to the Star, as she was exiting the Blockbuster Video on Sunset Strip, security alarms went off. Winona froze. She was carrying an instructional yoga tape and a video of "Sex and the City" episodes under her arm. The actress was relieved to find out that it was the guy in front of her who had set off the alarm.

Winona has had a lot of news lately to give her relief. The Los Angeles DA's office says the defense has provided evidence that Winona had a prescription for the generic painkillers police found on her when she was arrested for shoplifting. Prosecutors have moved to drop the drug charge. As of this writing, Winona will still have to face charges of grand theft, commercial burglary and vandalism when the trial starts. But the judge in Ryder's case has delayed the start date for her trial, due to a conflict in his schedule.

The Left Coast Report predicts Winona will end up with a severe celebrity-justice-style penalty – two appearances on "The O'Reilly Factor" and no last word.

Cusack's Pointers on Pilfering

Being a star has its advantages, but John Cusack is using his fame in some not-so-notable ways.

The actor, who is actually being touted by the left as a possible presidential candidate, told Details magazine last year what he thinks of President Bush. He labeled him a hypocrite who is going to "do a lot of damage."

"Bush means Dick Cheney, Tom DeLay, and all these ... crypto-fascists are gonna get in and start carving up the pie and handing in all their markers to the Republican Party that's been itching to get back into power," Cusack said.

The New York Post recently reported that the actor is fond of a practice he calls "celebrity looting." In an interview with Black Book magazine, he explained what the activity entails.

Cusack pointed out a clothing store to the interviewer and said, "We did celebrity looting there. … They asked me to come over, patronize the store, pick up some stuff. So I took all my friends over, and we went straight for the $8,000 rack of leather coats and took a bunch. The managers, they get all nervous and twitchy. They freak. But you just look at 'em really hard and walk out. That's celebrity looting."

The Left Coast Report says having to shell out cash to watch a John Cusack movie - now, that's celebrity looting.

Reality TV Gets Spacey

Not content with what Earth has to offer, certain Reality TV execs want to take their programming into outer space.

"Survivor" producer Mark Burnett has signed a deal with Russia's space agency and a TV network to train 20 contestants for a new show. The program's debut is planned for November 2003.

Using the usual reality formula, contestants will progressively be eliminated by a panel, which in this instance will be made up of space officials. In the end, the winner will be sent orbiting to the International Space Station on a Soyuz rocket.

The Left Coast Report sees the makings of a trend here. How about a show starring Jim McDermott and David Bonior called "Politicians Lost in Space"?

The Left Coast Report is put together by James L. Hirsen and the staff of NewsMax.

Editor's note:
Dick Morris on President Bush, the Clintons and Ronald Reagan