XXXXX DRUDGE RETORT XXXXX 09:17:11 UTC MON AUG 24 1998 XXXXX

Exclusive: David Mamet Gives Thumbs Down to Clinton Bombshell!

DRUDGE RETORT
By Jonathan Bourne
Mon Aug 24 1998 05:17:11 ET

EXCLUSIVE: DAVID MAMET GIVES THUMBS DOWN TO CLINTON BOMBSHELL!

**Warning: Contains graphic description, including seven references to the "F" word, one "G-D" compound word and gratuitous mention of a sex act that movie executive Mike De Luca personally greenlighted this spring**

Some are calling it prophecy. Others are calling it coincidence. WAG THE DOG screenwriter David Mamet is calling it copyright infringement!

Pause. Rewind. Play.

Cut to a president embroiled in a sex scandal with a young girl in the White House. In order to divert public attention away from his pubic indiscretion, the president randomly declares war on a small defenseless country.

Stop. Eject tape.

Yes, it's the events of last week. But it's also a plot-point by plot-point description of the 1997 New Line Cinema movie WAG THE DOG, the DRUDGE RETORT has learned from insiders with full knowledge of the film's plot.

"As soon as I saw the headline in USA TODAY, I knew it sounded familiar," said New Line Cinema President of Production Mike De Luca, who also was executive producer of WAG.

"And then it hit me -- not that long ago someone wrote up some coverage on a movie just like that ... which I had my assistant read."

WRITTEN BY, the official magazine of the Writers Guild of America, is going bazooka over an article in its September issue: WAG THE DOG screenwriter David Mamet has filed an official grievance with the WGA against President Bill Clinton.

The Chicago playwright-turned-screen-scribe cries out...

The story of the presidential con game originated with me!

The presidential cover-up of a sex scandal with this phony Sudanese war is nothing less than plagiarism!

Bettina, where the hell is that chili dog I ordered 45 minutes ago?

Thanks to judicious use of the date-rape drug Rohypnol, the DRUDGE RETORT has obtained portions of WRITTEN BY's Mamet interview from a part-time copy editor who "isn't seeing anybody right now."

Insert tape. Rewind. Play.

WRITTEN BY: So, it is true that --

DAVID MAMET: That I --

WRITTEN BY: Filing a lawsuit against the --

DAVID MAMET: Fucking right! I don't have to fucking --

WRITTEN BY: What specifically do you...?

DAVID MAMET: Are you kidding me?

WRITTEN BY: ...do you object --

DAVID MAMET: Are you fucking kidding me? Piracy! Fucking piracy. Do you think --

WRITTEN BY: You've said --

DAVID MAMET: I mean, it's more than just, than just...plot points. Dialogue! Whole goddamn paragraphs!

WRITTEN BY: How much ... I'm saying, how much...

DAVID MAMET: Word for fucking word!

WRITTEN BY: How much monetarily...

DAVID MAMET: Everything.

WRITTEN BY: Everything...?

DAVID MAMET: Two, three million. I don't even fucking know.

WRITTEN BY: ...

DAVID MAMET: Fucking lawyers.

Stop.

When contacted by NEW YORK POST columnist Maureen Dowd, Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr said that Rule 6-E prevents him from publicly disclosing whether he has seen the film.

Starr added: "Dustin Hoffman is guilty of giving a performance that rivals his work on KRAMER VS. KRAMER. Bobby DeNiro proved beyond a reasonable doubt that he is America's greatest living actor. A preponderance of the evidence shows that he was robbed by the Academy Awards Nominating Committee. I may look into that further in coming months."

Clinton attorney Bruce Lindsey said that the president is considering a similar plagiarism lawsuit: New Line's De Luca engaged in "Clinton-like actions" at a pre-Oscar party thrown by William Morris exec Arnold Rifkin last April. De Luca reportedly lost his head at the event, then got it back from a date in front of several stunned guests.

De Luca's office fired off an immediate response to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue: "Blow me."

© DRUDGE RETORT 1998 

   

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