AceShowbiz -

CBS bans advertising for the movie "Truth" which tells the story of former CBS News Journalist Dan Rather and his producer Mary Mapes. According to Callan Advertising, Sony Pictures Classics was turned down by The Eye when the studio sought to promote the film on Stephen Colbert's "Late Show", "CBS Evening News", "CBS This Morning", and "60 Minutes".

Starring Robert Redford and Cate Blanchett, "Truth" chronicles the scandal that exploded during President George W. Bush's re-election campaign after Rather reported that Mr. President had benefited from the powerful position of his father, then an ambassador and future president, to avoid service in Vietnam. CBS was forced to apologize after the documents they used could not be verified.

"It's astounding how little truth there is in 'Truth'," commented Gil Schwartz, CBS' longtime chief spokesman and a character in the movie. "There are, in fact, too many distortions, evasions and baseless conspiracy theories to enumerate them all. The film tries to turn gross errors of journalism and judgment into acts of heroism and martyrdom."

He added, "That's a disservice not just to the public but to journalists across the world who go out every day and do everything within their power, sometimes at great risk to themselves, to get the story right."

In response, the film's producer Brad Fischer said as quoted by The Associated Press, "I don't think anyone expected them to send flowers. To get an official statement from them that is negative was not surprising to anyone involved in the film. I think the one thing that surprised everyone was the tone and the emotional nature."