‘Truth’ Director: CBS Wishes ‘Film Had Never Been Made’

By Mark Joyella 

The director of the Robert Redford film “Truth” says he thinks executives at CBS News “would rather the film had not been made.”

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, James Vanderbilt said he hadn’t heard directly from anyone at the network about the “warts and all” portrayal of CBS and then-CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather.

Vanderbilt worked directly with Rather–who teared up at the film’s premiere in Toronto–and CBS News producer Mary Mapes, upon whose book the film is based. Of Rather, Vanderbilt says he was surprised by the longtime anchor’s willingness to support the film, based not on one of Rather’s successes, but about “the worst thing professionally you’ve ever gone through.”

Advertisement

The film opens Friday.

Advertisement