/ 4 April 2006

Die Hard director charged in Hollywood wiretap scandal

Top United States film director John McTiernan, the maker of such blockbusters as the <i>Die Hard</i> movies, was charged on Monday in connection with a fast-spreading Hollywood wiretapping scandal. McTiernan (55) is the 14th person to be charged in a snowballing criminal investigation that has threatened to envelop some major stars over alleged phone bugging.

Top United States film director John McTiernan, the maker of such blockbusters as the Die Hard movies, was charged on Monday in connection with a fast-spreading Hollywood wiretapping scandal.

McTiernan (55) is the 14th person to be charged in a snowballing criminal investigation that has threatened to envelop some major stars over alleged phone bugging carried out for Hollywood heavyweights by jailed private-eye-to-the-stars Anthony Pellicano.

A criminal complaint released by US federal prosecutors said the director of 1988’s Die Hard, starring Bruce Willis, and 1990’s The Hunt For Red October with Sean Connery, was charged with lying to investigators over whether he hired Pellicano to tap the phone of a Hollywood producer.

”McTiernan claimed that he had no knowledge of any wiretapping conducted by Anthony Pellicano and had never discussed any wiretapping with [him],” the criminal complaint stated.

”In fact, as defendant McTiernan well knew, he had hired and paid Pellicano to conduct a wiretap of Charles Roven,” the complaint said, adding that Pellicano had discussed the content of the information he had overheard with McTiernan.

Roven is a producer of major movies including last year’s The Brothers Grimm and Batman Begins, starring Christian Bale, Bulletproof Monk (2003) and the 1999 war movie Three Kings, starring George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg.

The criminal charge does not specify when the wiretap occurred or why it was ordered by McTiernan, who co-produced 2002’s Rollerball with Roven.

McTiernan is accused of lying to investigators around February 13 this year, according to the criminal complaint, which are frequently filed when the defendant has entered into an agreement to plead guilty.

McTiernan’s attorney could not immediately be reached for comment and a representative of the US Attorney’s Office did not respond to an inquiry about whether McTiernan has reached a plea bargain with prosecutors.

The filmmaker is due to appear in court in Los Angeles April 17 for arraignment.

McTiernan becomes the highest profile person to be charged in connection with the federal probe into the alleged wiretapping activities of Pellicano (61) who has also worked for stars such as Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor.

The affair has reportedly made some top Tinseltown players very nervous by threatening to blow the lid off the usually secretive — and sometimes shady — inner workings of Hollywood’s wheels of power.

Pellicano was charged in February along with six other people with conspiracy and plotting to secretly bug the phones of stars including Sylvester Stallone and Keith Carradine as well as a dozen other people.

He is also accused of using bribes to obtain police records on other individuals, including comedians Garry Shandling and Kevin Nealon.

Pellicano remains behind bars after pleading not guilty to charges in a 110-count racketeering and conspiracy indictment accusing him of using illegal means to get information on his probe targets.

The former private detective faces up to 20 years behind bars on each of the racketeering charges

The indictment was made public just before Pellicano completed a 30-month term in federal prison for firearms and explosives violations.

Six other people were named in the lengthy indictment that targeted Pellicano, in an investigation that began in 2002 and has resulted in a total of 14 people being charged.

Top Hollywood lawyer Terry Christensen in February pleaded innocent to hiring the celebrity sleuth to wiretap the ex-wife of billionaire former movie mogul Kirk Kerkorian, a legal client and business partner of Christensen.

Christensen is accused of paying Pellicano at least $100 000 to bug the phone of former tennis pro Lisa Bonder Kerkorian, who was previously married to MGM Mirage casino boss and former MGM movie studio owner Kerkorian. – AFP

 

AFP