Let nothing below be taken to imply that James Woods is or has ever been a user of cocaine. After all, Woods has just sued an unnamed Twitter user who labelled him a “cocaine addict”; no one wants to be the target of litigation launched by the gifted actor who so successfully embodied H.R. Haldeman.
“This action arises from the publication of a malicious and fabricated statement by a cowardly individual who hides behind the Twitter name ‘Abe List’ (‘AL’) to falsely accuse and humiliate others who dare to harbour opinions different from his own,” Woods’s complaint, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday, read. “On July 15, AL stepped over the line by falsely accusing actor James Woods of being a ‘cocaine addict’ on the social media site Twitter, a message sent to thousands of AL’s followers and hundreds of thousands of Mr. Woods’s followers. In fact, Woods is not now, nor has he ever been, a cocaine addict.”
On Twitter, the circulation of unfounded rumour and savage insults is a daily occurrence — one might think an Emmy-award winning actor might laugh it off.
No: Woods is seeking $10 million (Dh36 million) from AL — whose account, which the Hollywood Reporter said was “@abelisted,” has already disappeared. As Salon reported, AL made the allegedly malicious, fabricated comment after the politically outspoken Woods tweeted earlier this month: “USATODAY app features Bruce Jenner’s latest dress selection, but makes zero mention of Planned Parenthood baby parts market.”
Woods didn’t like the allusion to cocaine one bit.
“Woods intends to unmask and reveal AL for the liar he is and to recover in excess of $10 million in damages caused by AL’s outrageous conduct,” the complaint read. “For over forty-five years, Woods (68) has worked tirelessly to build a career and reputation as one of the most hard-working, prolific and recognisable actors of our time ... AL, and anyone else using social media to propagate lies and do harm, should take note. They are not impervious to the law.”
But even as Woods’s curious action winds its way through the California justice system, one wonders if AL could, perhaps, be misinterpreting Woods’s recent behaviour. Even as he approaches 70, Woods, genius player of villains whose attack-dog demeanour and sometimes unusual personal life occasionally grabs headlines, seems to be getting extra energy from somewhere.
The vile parade of con men, schlubs, low-lifes and hustlers Woods has brought to the small and big screens is perhaps unparalleled in the history of the moving image. These low men, real and imagined, include Nixon crony Haldeman (Nixon); closeted Joe McCarthy sycophant Roy Cohn (Citizen Cohn); drug-fuelled photojournalist Richard Boyle (Salvador); the racist who assassinated civil rights activist Medgar Evers (Ghosts of Mississippi); a pimp (Casino); a cop killer (The Onion Field); and, well, a cocaine addict in one of most memorable cocaine films of the 1980s (The Boost). By turns hurling rapid-fire insults or slinking away like a beaten coyote, Woods’s heels are as great or greater than those Edward G. Robinson, Christopher Lee and Alan Rickman.
Let’s just say when someone decided to have Woods play a romantic lead beside Dolly Parton in Straight Talk (1992), it didn’t work.
But whatever secret element makes Woods unforgettably slimy onscreen sometimes spills over into reality. It’s not that the actor is badly behaved a la Richard Pryor or Lindsey Lohan. It’s just that he always seems ready for a fight when no one else has their fists up.
Exhibit A: Woods’s preferred battleground — @realjameswoods, his Twitter account. While Woods is reportedly a registered Democrat and supporter of LGBT causes, he’s emerged as a sort of tea party fellow traveller in the social media age. Recent tweets include:
On global warming and Daesh: “Another Liberal numbskull equates rise of ISIS [Daesh] to ‘global warming.’ So, what, drought ridden Beverly Hills is next?”
On John Kerry: “Just a simpering idiot.”
On President Barack Obama: “More kids living in poverty now than during recession ... Thank you, Mr. Obama.”
Indeed, Obama is so often the target of Woods’s ire that, in a 2013 tweet, Woods said he thought it would affect his career.
“I don’t expect to work again,” he wrote. “I think Barack Obama is a threat to the integrity and future of the Republic. My country first.”