Michael Moore

Crusading author and filmmaker Michael Moore holds a newspaper outside a Traverse City, Mich., bookstore, Jan. 4, 2004. Moore, a formerly obscure, muckraking journalist, has become an international celebrity with two bestselling books and an Oscar-winning film in the same year.

Canadian Autoworkers Union President Buzz Hargrove, left, shakes hands with Moore in Toronto, Ontario, Sept. 26, 1996. Moore's first film was 1989's darkly comic documentary "Roger & Me," which followed people events in his hometown of Flint, Michigan, after General Motors Corp. shuttered 11 auto manufacturing plants and laid off 33,000 workers.

Moore holds cashed checks he sent to the presidential campaigns under the guise of various organizations, Sept. 19, 1996, in Washington. Is there anyone a politician won't take money from? To find out, Moore sent a $100 check labeled "Hemp Growers of America" for President Clinton's re-election. The campaign cashed it.

Moore poses in front of a marquee promoting his speaking engagement at the Michigan Theatre in Ann Arbor, Mich., Sept. 9, 1996. Taking an approach that leaves people rolling with laughter one minute and fuming with righteous indignation the next, Moore's first book, "Downsize This! Random Threats From an Unarmed American," was a 1996 best seller.

Crackers, the Corporate Crime Chicken, speaks during a rally outside the Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio, to protest mega farms in Ohio, Aug. 14, 1998. Moore created the character to stand up to corporate crooks, and Crackers gained a cult following through segments on Moore's television series "TV Nation" and "The Awful Truth."

Moore poses for a portrait, Oct. 9, 2002, in Los Angeles. Despite their popularity, Moore's works have been questioned for their accuracy. And his gloves-off, leftist rhetoric has fueled a legion of detractors who don't appreciate his jokes. Even some liberals question the effectiveness of his in-your-face approach and his blending of serious politics with entertainment.

Republican presidential candidate Alan Keyes, right, greets Moore outside a television station in Manchester, N.H., Feb. 1, 2000. Moore, who was hosting the cable show "The Awful Truth with Michael Moore," offered to endorse the first candidate to jump from a flatbed truck into the show's mobile mosh pit. Keyes accepted the challenge at the urging of his daughter.

Keyes jumps into Moore's mosh pit, Jan. 23, 2000, in Des Moines, Iowa. Moore kept his word and endorsed the long-shot, conservative Republican candidate, but it was George W. Bush who won the White House.

Moore holds a ficus tree during a tongue-in-cheek news conference in Morristown, N.J., April 26, 2000. When an unopposed congressman from New Jersey stood for re-election, Moore registered the house plant to run against him: "Let's face it. Congressman Frelinghuysen doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground. Vote Ficus. His ass is a hole in the ground."

Moore reads from his book "Stupid White Men: And Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation!," at Milliken Auditorium in Traverse City, Mich., April 1, 2002. Moore's publisher held the book back after the Sept. 11 attacks, fearing its irreverent tone and Bush-bashing would offend readers. Amid complaints of censorship by Moore and his fans, the book finally was released in February 2002.

Moore, right, meets fellow nominee Robert Evans as they arrive at the Broadcast Film Critics Association 8th Annual Critics Choice Awards, Jan. 17, 2003. Moore won "Best Documentary" for "Bowling for Columbine," about the Columbine High School shooting and U.S. gun control policy. The film earned $21.5 million at the box office, making it the highest-grossing documentary ever.

U.S. winners Adrien Brody, left, for best actor, Spike Lee, second left, honorary Cesar, Meryl Streep, second right, honorary Cesar, and Michael Moore, right, for the best foreign movie, pose with their awards during the Cesar film awards, Feb. 22, 2003, in Paris.

Moore arrives with his wife, producer Kathleen Glenn, for the 75th annual Academy Awards, March 23, 2003, in Los Angeles. Moore's film "Bowling for Columbine" won for best documentary feature.

Moore delivers a rip-roaring statement after accepting the Oscar for best documentary feature for "Bowling for Columbine," during the 75th annual Academy Awards, March 23, 2003, in Los Angeles. His message that George W. Bush is a "fictitious president ... sending us to war for fictitious reasons" drew a partial standing ovation and some jeers from Hollywood's elite.

Michael Moore flashes the peace sign as he poses with his Oscar during the 75th annual Academy Awards, March 23, 2003, in Los Angeles.

Asked backstage why he made the remarks about the war and the president, Moore answered: "I'm an American."

"Is that all?" a reporter asked.

"Oh, that's a lot," he responded.

Moore, left, shakes hands with former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright during a "Book and Author Breakfast" at which the two spoke, during Book Expo L.A., June 1, 2003, in Los Angeles.

Moore attends a signing event for his book "Dude, Where's My Country?" in London, Nov. 10, 2003. Moore accuses some liberals of being too elitist and ideologically rigid. In the book, he chides animal-rights activists, contends SUVs are not "inherently evil," and faults many liberals for being contemptuous of religion. "This arrogance is a big reason the lower classes will always side with the Republicans," he writes.

Democratic presidential hopeful Wesley Clark, right, embraces Moore during a campaign rally at Pembroke Academy in Pembroke, N.H., Jan. 17, 2004. "I have decided to cast my vote in the primary for Wesley Clark," Moore wrote on his Web site. "That's right, a peacenik is voting for a general. What a country!" Clark later dropped out of the race.

Moore is stopped by Secret Service outside the Saudi Embassy, Washington D.C., in a scene from his movie "Fahrenheit 9/11." The movie, which criticizes President Bush's handling of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and connects the Bush family with Osama bin Laden's, won't be released through Miramax Films on orders from parent company Disney.

Moore is awarded the Palme d' Or, the Cannes film festival's top prize, for his film "Fahrenheit 9/11," during the award ceremony in Cannes, on the French Riviera, May 22, 2004. Actress Charlize Theron looks on at right.