Phil Spector HBO Film Protested by Lana Clarkson's Former Publicist

A group of protesters gathered around the Los Angeles County Museum of Art yesterday to oppose the HBO film Phil Spector, accusing the movie of implying the deceased actress Lana Clarkson committed suicide. One of the protesters was Clarkson's former publicist, Edward Lozzi, who said the group changed their focus from preventing the film's production to blocking the movie from Emmys recognition.

"To see that this film was going to be made was a slap in the face," Lozzi told The Hollywood Reporter. "We were so happy Phil Spector was in prison." Lozzi and two other men held a sign that read, "HBO's Phil Spector murders the truth. No Emmy for the film that hurts people alive today." Lozzi said the protest represented around 50 core members of the group Friends of Lana Clarkson.

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Phil Spector is a true-crime biopic starring Al Pacino as Spector and Helen Mirren as defense attorney Linda Kenney Baden. Lozzi said he had seen the film and was unhappy with its focus on Spector's defense, which revolved around the idea that Clarkson killed herself. According to Lozzi, the film suggests Clarkson committed suicide because she was depressed after turning 40.

Clarkson was found dead in Spector's Alhambra, California mansion in February 2003, and Spector was convicted of second degree murder in 2009 and sentenced to 19 years to life in prison. Director David Mamet suggested in 2011 that Spector might be innocent. "They should have never sent him away. Whether he did it or not, we'll never know," he told the Financial Times, "but if he’d just been a regular citizen, they never would have indicted him." Last February, Spector had an appeal shot down by the U.S. Supreme Court.