Blacklisting Martin Sheen?

Though Hollywood loves to cash in on sequels, the Screen Actors Guild is doing its best to help avoid a rerun of the infamous blacklisting practices of the McCarthy era.

As the country moves closer to war with Iraq and more actors have raised their voices in protest, the union has issued an online plea to Hollywood producers to avoid retaliation at all costs. The credo was issued after the union noticed "a disturbing trend [where] some have recently suggested that well known individuals who express 'unacceptable' views should be punished by losing their right to work," according to a statement on the group's Website, www.sag.org.

Recently, superstars in television, film and music have taken to the streets, airways, newspapers (and even Baghdad) to voice their dissatisfaction with President Bush and a potential war with Iraq. A few, like Martin Sheen and Sean Penn, say they have felt the heat.

West Wing TV prez Sheen, among other antiwar efforts, recently hosted a series of commercials encouraging Americans to protest the war as part of the Win Without War coalition and organized a virtual "March on Washington" calling for email and phone support of his cause. He says NBC big-wigs "let it be known they're very uncomfortable with where I'm at" on the war and says they worry his vocal antiwar stance will affect the show's ratings. (NBC officials swear there is "no concern among top management.")

Penn, who actually traveled to Iraq to get a first-hand glimpse of the state of affairs then wrote a letter calling for peace in the Washington Post to President Bush, says he was dropped from a movie called Why Men Shouldn't Marry by producer (and Liz Hurley ex) Steven Bing. Penn is suing Bing for wrongful termination. (Bing is countersuing, claiming Penn pulled out of the project, not the other way around.)

Meanwhile, music headliners like David Byrne, Lou Reed and Def Jam founder Russell Simmons gathered in New York Thursday to unveil a new protest group, called Musicians United to Win Without War. The group took out a full-page ad reading "War on Iraq is wrong and we know it," and signed by the likes of Sheryl Crow, Fugazi and Jay-Z, in the New York Times.

Other artists like Madonna and John Mellencamp have recorded decidedly antiwar songs.

Such actions have purportedly led to veiled threats of retribution from the Republican right and others in Hollywood upset at the outspoken stars.

There's also been a letter mass-mailed to studios and networks taking Sheen, Penn, George Clooney, Susan Sarandon, Dustin Hoffman, Woody Harrelson, Nelson Mandela, Matt Damon, Pat Buchanan, Jesse Jackson, Jimmy Carter and the Pope to task for their antiwar views. The letter calls the group and their allies "traitors." (It prompted a statement from Clooney, saying, "The Pope and I can take it, but don't pick on Pat Buchanan.")

Such action sent up a big red flag that needs to be addressed, according to SAG. "This shocking development suggests that the lessons of history have, for some, fallen on deaf ears," says the guild. SAG is referring to the career destroying blacklists of the 1950s, when actors and writers who were suspected Communists were shut out of jobs.

"During this shameful period, our own Industry prostrated itself before smear campaigns and witch hunters rather than standing on the principles articulated in the nation's fundamental documents," says SAG. "Today, having come to grips with its past, having repudiated the insult of loyalty oaths and examined its own failings, our industry, perhaps more than any other, understands the necessity of guarding and cherishing those rights for which Americans have fought and died."

The SAG treatise continues with a Hollywood call-to-arms, proclaiming that "even a hint of the blacklist must never again be tolerated in this nation."

So far, SAG support seems to be gaining steam. Also listed on the site are supporting statements from the Writer's Guild and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.

Not everyone in Hollywood is in need of SAG protection, however. Some stars do support President Bush and his move towards war and have voiced their opinions, as well. Law & Order D.A. (and ex-Republican senator) Fred Thompson recently issued a public service announcement supporting Bush. "Thank goodness we have a president with the courage to protect our country," Thompson intones in the spot. "And when people ask, 'What has Saddam done to us?' I ask, 'What had the 9/11 hijackers done to us before 9/11?' ")

It remains to be seen whether the issue will flair up during SAG's biggest night, when Sheen and other peacenik thespians compete at the 9th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards and have a national audience for their views. The show is being carried live on TNT Sunday at 8 p.m. ET (tape-delayed on the West Coast) from Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium, with E! broadcasting Live from the Red Carpet beginning at 4 p.m. ET/PT.