Moore hits snag on Wall Street promoting "SiCKO"
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Filmmaker Michael Moore said he was barred from the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday for an interview on his documentary on the U.S. health-care system, a day after he was bumped from a national TV interview to make way for Paris Hilton.
Standing outside the Stock Exchange in Manhattan's financial district, Moore told reporters a planned interview with CNBC on the exchange floor was moved outside the building because the network told him the exchange would not let him inside.
On Wednesday, his appearance on CNN's "Larry King Live" was postponed for the first post-jail interview with Hilton, a reality TV star and hotel heiress. Moore is now scheduled to appear on the show on Friday night.
"Having been bumped from Larry King last night for Paris Hilton, I am beginning to take things personally," said Moore, whose film "SiCKO" -- which criticizes corporate interests behind the U.S. health-care system -- opens on Friday. "The priorities in this country are seriously askew."
A spokesman for the New York Stock Exchange said Moore had not given enough notice to get inside the building. Kevin Goldman, a spokesman for CNBC, said the network thought Moore had made his own arrangements to get inside.
"SiCKO" details the stories of Americans who say they were denied life-saving treatment by insurers or forced to forgo emergency treatment at hospitals because they could not afford to pay.
The film has received mixed reviews in the United States, with some criticizing it for a lack of substantive comparison of the U.S. health-care system with that of countries that offer universal health care.
Reuters/Nielsen
