Hollywood bids a fond farewell to Hugo Chavez

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img alt="(From left) Oliver Stone, Hugo Chavez and Michael Moore are shown. | AP Photo" src="http://images.politico.com/global/2013/03/06/130306_stone_chavez_moore_ap_328.jpg" /><br /><br /><div style="border: 0px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">As the legacy of Hugo Chavez gets debated in the wake of his passing, filmmakers Michael Moore and Oliver Stone took to Twitter to praise the late Venezuelan president.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“You won’t hear much nice about him in the US media in the next few days. So, I thought I’d say a couple things to provide some balance” <a href="https://twitter.com/MMFlint" style="border: 0px; color: #004276; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">wrote</a> Moore.</div><span style="border: 0px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /><span style="background-color: white;">“Hugo Chavez declared the oil belonged 2 the ppl. He used the oil $ 2 eliminate 75% of extreme poverty, provide free health & education 4 all.” “That made him dangerous. US approved of a coup to overthrow him even though he was a democratically-elected President.” “54 countries around the world allowed the US to detain(& torture) suspects. Latin America, thanks 2 Chavez, was the only place that said no.”</span><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></span><br /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></span><br /><div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Moore <a href="https://twitter.com/MMFlint/status/309130183036780544" style="border: 0px; color: #004276; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">shared</a> a picture of him meeting with Chavez in 2009 at the Venice Film Fest.</div><div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“We spoke for over an hour. He said he was happy 2 finally meet someone Bush hated more than him.”</div><div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Oliver Stone <a href="https://twitter.com/TheOliverStone/status/309106569205927937" style="border: 0px; color: #004276; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">said</a>, “I mourn a great hero to the majority of his people and those who struggle throughout the world for a place.” “Hated by the entrenched classes, Hugo Chavez will live forever in history. My friend, rest finally in a peace long earned.”</div><div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Roseanne Barr also <a href="https://twitter.com/TheRealRoseanne/status/309108159371436032" style="border: 0px; color: #004276; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">tweeted</a> out her mourning over Chavez, saying, “Ruling Classes hated Hugo Chavez. RIP.” Recording artist M.I.A <a href="https://twitter.com/MIAuniverse/status/309063919421489152" style="border: 0px; color: #004276; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">said</a> the same .</div><div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sean Penn <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hugo-chavez-dead-sean-penn-426205" style="border: 0px; color: #004276; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">said</a> in a statement to the Hollywood Reporter that “the people of the United States lost a friend it never knew it had. And poor people around the world lost a champion. I lost a friend I was blessed to have. My thoughts are with the family of President Chavez and the people of Venezuela.”</div><div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">For others, however, Chavez’s passing was a good opportunity to crack some jokes.</div><div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“My greatest regret at the passing of America-hating strongman Hugo Chavez, is that he didn’t live long enough to party with Dennis Rodman,” <a href="https://twitter.com/RobLowe/status/309132305723703296" style="border: 0px; color: #004276; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">wrote</a> Rob Lowe. Arsenio Hall <a href="https://twitter.com/ArsenioHall/status/309106143618293761" style="border: 0px; color: #004276; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">tweeted</a>, “Venezuelan dictator HUGO CHAVES died today! Horrible timing, ‘cause he had dinner scheduled with Dennis Rodman tomorrow!” Comedian Michael Ian Black <a href="https://twitter.com/michaelianblack/status/309075091558375426" style="border: 0px; color: #004276; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">wrote</a>, “Please respect Sean Penn’s privacy during this difficult time.</div><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /><br /></span></div>

Hugo Chavez Hollywood bids a fond farewell to Hugo Chavez

As the legacy of Hugo Chavez gets debated in the wake of his passing, filmmakers Michael Moore and Oliver Stone took to Twitter to praise th...

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