www.cnn.com/2005/US/01/10/oreilly.clooney/index.html
In a letter sent by e-mail Monday, Clooney lashed out at the host of "The O'Reilly Factor," saying comments he made last week on his program will lead to lower contributions in Saturday's celebrity-driven telethon. The caustic message from Clooney also challenges O'Reilly to serve as a p resenter in the event. "This is your chance to put your considerable money where your considerab le mouth is," Clooney writes in the note sarcastically signed "Your fan. " On his show Monday night, O'Reilly responded, "That sounds good to me, bu t I have to see what the format is." "Whether I can make a pitch or not depends on how organized things are," he said. O'Reilly also responded on his show when Clooney sent him a letter amid t he dispute three years ago. The new dispute began with O'Reilly's comments during his program last Th ursday. "As Yogi Berra once said, 'It is deja vu all over again,'" he said, accor ding to a transcript on Fox News' Web site. "You may remember that, in t he aftermath of the 9/11 attack, there was a celebrity-driven TV teletho n that raised millions for the affected families. And now, there will be another telethon raising money for those hurt by the tsunami." After the telethon for victims of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, O'Reilly complained on his program that not all the money pledged was making its way to victims. "You may also remember that Clooney strenuously objected to 'The Factor' investigation that uncovered problems in distributing the 9/11 money, ev en though we proved our case and the Red Cross revamped its entire opera tion because of it," O'Reilly told viewers Thursday. He said his program "will be watching to see if the money gets to the tsu nami victims. The Red Cross has credited O'Reilly with helping to craft a revised polic y on the distribution of donations after the 9/11 attacks. But Clooney w rote in his note, "it was not the Red Cross but the United Way that spon sored that telethon...
as we were still waiti ng for a list of names of the dead." Clooney called the telethon "an unqualified success," and noted that he i s on the United Way's board of directors. A United Way spokeswoman contacted by CNN Monday did not know offhand abo ut funds from the 9/11 telethon, and said the agency would research that information. A United Way document from October 2001 says "more than $150 million was pledged as a result of the 'America: A Tribute to Heroes' telethon, whic h solely benefited The September 11th Fund." And a press release from January 2002 said administrative costs were rais ed separately, "allowing 100 percent of donations to support organizatio ns and agencies that provide financial assistance and services." But Clooney, in his letter to O'Reilly, said people canceled their pledge s following remarks by the Fox News host. Arguing that O'Reilly's latest comments were for "personal gain," the sta r of "Ocean's Twelve" said, "Because of it, fewer people will donate mon ey to help truly traumatized victims; O'Reilly wished the event well when he discussed it Thursday. "We want the telethon to be a big success and we applaud the time and gen erosity of George Clooney and the other stars," he said. And we expect all the telethon people to understa nd that." Clooney, in turn, accused O'Reilly of failing to recognize his responsibi lity, noting "you have become quite powerful." Then came the challenge: "I'm booking the talent for the Tsunami event... and you, Mr O'Reilly, a re now officially invited to be a presenter... at this point, not one o f the people I've invited to donate their time has said 'No' ... this wa y, You can personally follow up on our fund raising... this is your chan ce to put your considerable money where your considerable mouth is... "Either you ante up and help out AND be that watch dog that you feel we c learly need... or you simply stand on the sidelines and cast stones," he wrote.
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