14 DAY TRIAL // Director James Cameron is now promoting the release on DVD of his biggest-selling movie in his entire career – and the movie industry as well –, “Avatar.” In order to draw attention to the environmental issues tackled in the film, Cameron responded to an attack now-Fox anchorman Glenn Beck made 3 years ago, when he said he was the anti-Christ and that only the devil himself could have directed a film like “Titanic.” As expected, Beck didn’t take long to respond on his show.
The entire feud was ignited during a press call, when Cameron lashed out at Beck, calling him names that unfortunately can’t be rendered in writing and saying his ideas were “poisonous” and “dangerous,” as The Hollywood Reporter can confirm. He also said that Beck stood for an entire category of environment “deniers” who don’t care about the world they leave for their children and who, therefore, can’t see the importance a film like “Avatar” has in raising awareness. That category of people should be shot in the street, Cameron also said.
“Glenn Beck is a [expletive] [expletive]. I’ve met him. He called me the anti-Christ and not about Avatar. He hadn’t even seen Avatar yet. I don't know if he has seen it. I think, you know what, he may or may not be an [expletive], but he certainly is dangerous, and I’d love to have a dialogue with him. […] That’s right, I want to call those deniers out into the street at high noon and shoot it out with those boneheads. Anybody that is a global-warming denier at this point in time has got their head so deeply up their [expletive] I’m not sure they could hear me. Look, at this point I’m less interested in making money for the movie and more interested in saving the world that my children are going to inhabit,” Cameron said during the aforementioned press meeting.
Beck took about a few hours to respond to this, says the same publication in a later post – and, as the video below will show, he did it by also offering specifics on what he said that got Cameron so upset. According to the Fox anchorman, his words were taken out of context, for he only called the director the anti-Christ because of Celine Dion’s ballad “My Heart Will Go On.” Nevertheless, the fact that he would “carry this joke with him” for 3 whole years, after hearing it on a show that nobody watched back then showed Cameron had some issues, Beck said. And, speaking of issues, he shouldn’t be threatening to shoot people dead in the street for being environmentally ignorant, because that would mean killing about 79 percent of all Americans, he added with mock tears.
“The best part, this guy has carried this joke around with him for three long years. Oh my god, really. It’s time to walk away from the CGI just for a minute, Jim. Just for a second. I don’t think he’s upset with me through. He’s also upset with you because you’re a global-warming denier. Since he took my anti-Christ joke so seriously, I guess I have to ask James stop threatening to shoot people in the street. Seventy-nine percent of Americans aren’t convinced greenhouse gases were the most important factor in the planet’s warming. Why must you kill all of them? Why must you kill all of them?” Beck said.
Below is the video of Beck’s response to Cameron, where he also plays bits of the recording of the director’s bitter remarks and shows the exact quote that started it all, three years ago. Enjoy.