August 19, 2008 --
DANNY Glover's movie project with Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez never got off the ground - and it's because of Hollywood's racism, Glover whines. Marxist Chavez was smart enough to offer just half the financing for the film, $18 million. Glover was supposed to get the other $18 million from a distributor, but no one in Hollywood was interested in a preachy film about Haitian independence hero Toussaint L'Ouverture. Glover told a Paris film seminar: "Producers said, It's a nice project, a great project . . . where are the white heroes?' " The Pan-African Newswire also quoted the "Lethal Weapon" star saying, "I couldn't get the money here. I couldn't get the money in Britain. I went to everybody . . . The first question you get is, 'Is it a black film?' All of them agree, 'It's not going to do good in Europe, it's not going to do good in Japan.' Somebody has to prove that to be a lie."
