Morgan Freeman, a man whose voice is trusted more than anyone else’s in the world because of all the wise old men he’s pretended to be in movies, is a supporter of the Democratic Party. He endorsed Barack Obama all the way back in 2007. In 2009, he sent out a fund-raising pitch for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Over the years he’s donated $7,400 to Democratic candidates. And he recently lent his voice to a campaign ad for B.J. Lawson, who’s running for congress in North Carolina’s fourth district against Congressman David Price. But surprise! Lawson is a Republican.
Now, maybe Freeman, despite his Democratic proclivities, just liked what he heard about Lawson after a mutual friend “connected the campaign with the actor,” and that’s why he was willing to disparage the “failed stimulus” and Price’s pro-Pelosi voting record. Or maybe he’ll just say anything in exchange for money. It’s one or the other.
Freeman coda, Wait, is that … [Ben Smith/Politico]
Update: Well, this just got very weird. Did the Lawson campaign actually hire a Morgan Freeman impersonator, then tell people it was really Morgan Freeman? According to a statement from a Freeman spokesman, Freeman never recorded an ad for Lawson:
In the comments on his Facebook page, Lawson had written this in response to queries about the ad:
The campaign also told Politico that the narrator was actually Freeman:
According to the campaign, Freeman was paid for his time, but nowhere near the rate that the actor normally charges for voice work.
Update II: Though Lawson’s campaign claims it was tricked into believing that Freeman had actually recorded the ad, an e-mail by the consultant group responsible for the ad makes it clear that the “Morgan Freeman” voice would be done by a convincing double.
