Ads for Showtime’s seven-part limited series is about Roger Ailes were targeted this week by a conservative group of artists/activists known as “The Faction.”
A Los Angeles billboard with Russell Crowe portraying the Fox News icon was vandalized with the messages “Showtime/CBS is fake news,” “haters gonna hate,” and “The man who beat CBS every night.”
Images of the altered billboard were captured by The Hollywood Reporter’s Paul Bond on Wednesday.
Members of “The Faction” told the entertainment website that their “haters gonna hate” line coupled with a cherubic image of Mr. Ailes was inspired by Van Halen’s “1984” album cover.
“As to why they went through the expense and trouble of severely altering a Showtime billboard, a member said their intent isn’t necessarily to defend Ailes but to indict CBS News and other outlets they deem biased on a host of subjects, including ’Russiagate’ and coverage surrounding the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court hearings,” THR reported.
The artist accused reporters of twisting facts for “character assassination” attempts.
“They present lies and innuendo as facts,” the artist added.
Showtime’s series on the Fox News founder premieres Sunday, June 30 at 10 p.m. EDT.
The billboard for Showtime’s Roger Ailes show, #TheLoudestVoice, was hijacked in L.A. by conservatives https://t.co/cMZJVmcKky pic.twitter.com/CZ5QaCEl1u
— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) June 26, 2019
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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