IS IT TRUE SHE WAS SLEEPING WITH A BROTHER?
-
JayWalking — 18 years ago(January 14, 2008 03:56 AM)
May or may not be true.
In any case, Hoover spread rumors about her dabbling in interracial affairs, which in late 60's / early 70's was pretty much a show-stopper for a white actress.
She did support equal rights for African-Americans, as well as human rights for all people, which is what drew Hoover's ire to begin with. So for THAT she should be commended. -
todd-kort — 15 years ago(August 07, 2010 06:12 AM)
No that is only the rumor planted by J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI in an attempt to discredit her. They did this because Seberg supported various political causes/ideas (such as the Civil Rights movement) that Nixon and Hoover strongly disagreed with.
From the website..www.whatreallyhappened.com
Individuals who had become prominant supporters of the civil rights movement were targeted for similar "outright lies". No more tragic example exists than the FBI's scheme to deliberatly ruin the career of actress Jean Seberg, a vocal and financial supporter of civil rights.
Jean Seberg, a well known actress in the 60s, starred in such films as "Saint Joan", "Airport", "Dead of Summer", "Paint Your Wagon", "Pendulum", "A Fine Madness", "Moment to Moment", "Lilith", and "The Mouse That Roared" along with dozens of films made in France. Jean Seberg was married to French Diplomat Romain Gary and was carrying his child when the Los Angeles office of the FBI sent the following memo to Washington D.C.
"Bureau permission is requested to publicize the pregnancy of Jean
Seberg, well-known movie actress by (name deleted) Black Panther (BPP)
(deleted) by advising Hollywood "Gossip-Columnists" in the Los Angeles
area of the situation. It is felt that the possible publication of
Seberg's plight could cause her embarrassment and serve to cheapen her
image with the general public.
" 'It is proposed that the following letter from a fictitious person
be sent to local columinists:
"I was just thinking about you and remembered I still owe you a favor.
So - I was in Paris last week and ran into Jean Seberg, who was
heavy with baby. I thought she and Romaine [sic] had gotten together
again, but she confided the child belonged to (deleted) of the Black
Panthers, one (deleted). The dear girl is getting around!
" 'Anyway, I thought you might get a scoop on the others. Be good and
I'll see you soon.
'Love,
" 'Sol.,
"Usual precautions would be taken by the Los Angeles Division to
preclude identification of the Bureau as the source of the letter if
approval is granted."
(Note the comment about "usual precautions"; yet another indicator that such smear campaigns, then and now, are common operations).
Permission was granted (but with the suggestion that the smear be delayed until Jean Seberg's pregnancy was in a very obvious condition), and the rumor started by Los Angeles Times propagandist Joyce Haber. The story was picked up by Newsweek and the international press. The shock of the story was so severe that Jean Seberg suffered a miscarriage. The funeral for the child was held with an open casket, so that the lie stood revealed in it's most tragic form. Jean Seberg, her baby dead and her career shattered by this outright lie, attempted suicide several times, finally succeeding in a French Hotel.
(The name which was redacted from the above memo during the FOIA process is thought by many to have been Raymond Hewit, a Black Panther leader. His "outright lie" was far more direct. The FBI typed up a letter on official FBI statioda0nary identifying Hewit as an informant and planted it where other Black Panthers would find it in the hopes that Hewit would then be killed.)
Following Seberg's death, the Los Angeles Times, the key instrument of her torment, issued a statement by the FBI.
"The days when the FBI used derogatory information to combat advocates
of unpopular causes have long since passed. We are out of that
business forever."
The Senate committee that looked into COINTELPRO disagreed, however.
"Cointelpro activities may continue today under the rubric of
'investigation.'
(From my own experiences in Hollywood following my interest in the Vincent Foster murder, I can attest that the Senate committee has a far more accurate grasp of reality. Threats, smears, and blacklisting are still the tools of choice for the FBI.)
Disinformation was not the limit of the FBI's tactics against the civil rights movement. While officially critical of the KKK, the FBI's "White Hate" program let it be known that KKK attacks against certain black leadership targets would not result in any reprisals.
All of the covertness and subterfuge was to allow COINTELPRO to stifle dissent while maintaining the illusion that the nation was a democracy with a still-functioning Bill Of Rights. However, no matter how many times the word "Democracy" gets drummed into our ears as we grow up, common sense will tell you that the mere existence of a secret police force, able, willing, and permitted to destroy the lives of citizens at will, proves we live in a dictatorship.