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Just When You Thought Nick Loeb's Anti-Abortion 'Roe v. Wade' Was As Bad As It Could Get ...

By Kristy Puchko | Film | July 6, 2018 |

By Kristy Puchko | Film | July 6, 2018 |


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This week it seems Hollywood got jealous of the raging trash fire news out of the White House and decided to fight back by unleashing all brands of regressive, repulsive bile. Nicolas Winding Refn threw out some problematic political remarks, only to be bested (worsted?) by Terry Gilliam’s laments about the prejudice against white men. Scarlett Johansson showed us she learned nothing from her Ghost in the Shell whitewashing controversy, revealing she’d be producing and taking the lead role in a film about a trans man. And news broke that Sofia Vergara’s awful ex Nick Loeb is writing, directing, producing, and starring in a drama called Roe v. Wade, which the anti-abortion activist promises will clear away the conspiracy theories and “fake news” about the landmark Supreme Court case. And this right-wing wet dream just got way grosser.

After telling THR about a number of cast and crewmembers who’d already quit the propaganda flick, Loeb teased, “There are lots of surprising cameos from controversial people in the news that I can’t tell you about — or more people might walk off the set.” Now, two of those “surprising cameos” have now been revealed. The Daily Beast reports Milo Yiannopoulos and Tomi Lahren will make appearances in Roe v. Wade.

You might remember Yiannopoulos as a former Breitbart writer known for an array of grotesque behavior, including sparking a harassment campaign against Leslie Jones on Twitter, defending pedophilia, and urging “gunning journalists down” just days ahead of someone doing just that at the Capital Gazette. In Roe v. Wade, Yiannopoulos will play a doctor who performs abortions. Or more specifically, he’ll play “Dr. David Sopher, a British abortion doctor who invented the Sopher ovum forceps and ‘who’s performing abortions and feels they don’t matter,’ according to a crew member.”

Tomi Lahren is actually kind of a surprising addition to this anti-abortion movie. Yes, she is an adored star of the right wing, being vehemently against gun control, NFL players right to kneel in protest, and Black Lives Matter. But she is pro-choice, a stance that got her suspended from the conservative news network The Blaze. Maybe Lahren justifies her appearance in Roe v. Wade with her role, that of Supreme Court Justice Blackmun’s daughter Sally, who was a Planned Parenthood volunteer. Or maybe her own politics be damned, Lahren can’t get enough of sticking it to the libs.

Speaking with anonymous crew members, The Daily Beast also uncovered more information about the closely guarded content of Roe v. Wade. It will reportedly include “several graphic scenes depicting aborted fetuses.” This is hardly surprising if you’ve ever seen a Pro-Life March. The imagery of bloody fetal remains is a mainstay of their protest posters. Once, I even saw a man dressed as the Grim Reaper dragging a rope tied to a bunch of dismembered baby dolls covered in fake blood. There’s no word on if he’ll make a “surprising cameo” in Loeb’s film.

What we do know is that Roe v. Wade is shooting under the title 1973, and has presented watered down synopsis of its content in a bid to secure locations. According to one crew member, Tulane University isn’t the only place that booted the production once it got wind of its actual content, noting, “The whole attitude on the project has been, ‘Don’t tell anyone any more than you have to tell them.’” And that included the members of the cast and crew.

One source revealed, “When people finally receive the script, they’ve dropped out really fast. After people started dropping out, they said, ‘OK, don’t send people the scripts anymore.’ Instead, they’ve been changing lines and scenes before they shoot.” This might explain why the film’s original director and her first assistant director bailed during the first day of shooting. And apparently, Loeb’s script was so extreme that even outspoken conservative celebs Stephen Baldwin and Kevin Sorbo quit their roles after reading it. Yes. This movie is too right wing for Stephen Baldwin and Kevin Sorbo.

One crewman said that once Baldwin and Sorbo bailed, cast members were denied the full script, and only given their actual lines once they arrived on set for the day’s shoot. Maybe this blatant misrepresentation explains how Loeb got Steve Guttenberg, Joey Lawrence, and Jamie Kennedy on board. (I know. What even is this movie?) Plus, the casting of Lahren and Yiannopoulos was purposefully kept from the cast and crew as long as possible, as Loeb himself playfully confessed in the THR piece.

I recommend reading the whole of the Daily Beast piece. They’ve uncovered so much mayhem, manipulation, and misrepresentation it’s mind-blowing. Roe v. Wade already is fit for a shocking behind-the-scenes showbiz doc like Lost Soul, which revealed the bizarre story behind the making of The Island of Dr. Moreau, or Lost In La Mancha, which chronicled one of Gilliam’s failed attempts to make his Don Quixote adaptation. Because Roe v. Wade is low budget and reportedly funded by Fox News fanatics, it will likely be finished. Maybe it’ll even score some form of distribution. But far more interesting than this predictably provocative, gory, and misleading propaganda pic is the absolute shit show that is its creation. Now that is a movie I suspect a lot of us would love to see, as long as Loeb won’t be producing.