AMAZING STORY

TV Guide’s article on Steven Spielberg last week tells an amazing story. It depicts him as a cold character who holds grudges, plays childish games with employees who fall out of his favor, has a secrecy fetish over his “Amazing Stories” series and is so protective of his public image that he tosses out publicity photos that show his frequent collaborator, George Lucas, in the foreground.

Reaction to the piece?

No comment from Amblin Entertainment, Spielberg’s company. “Steven’s out of the country right now,” said a rep. No comment from Warner Bros., where the Spielberg-produced “Innerspace” is about to begin production.

But Sidney J. Sheinberg, Spielberg’s mentor who signed him up for his first long-term contract, had a lot to say.

The president and chief operating officer of MCA, where Spielberg’s offices are located, called the story “factually inaccurate. . . . It characterized Steven as being greedy, cold and selfish. But that’s not the Steven Spielberg I know. You’re talking about someone I’ve known for 17 or 18 years.”

In fact, said Sheinberg, he had to read the article “two or three times” because “at first, I couldn’t believe what I was reading.”

Added Sheinberg: “I don’t doubt that the writer actually talked to people who have known Steven. But I think it’s interesting that he never spoke to me.”

Most of the article involved unnamed sources because, according to writer Richard Turner (now the magazine’s West Coast Bureau chief), people were worried about reprisals. What they had to say tarnished Spielberg’s Peter Pan image.

We did find one source affiliated with Spielberg who defended the article--and, of course, asked for anonymity. (“I am not interested in early retirement.”) His feelings about the piece: “I thought it was incisive and very good journalism. By looking at all the little things around the guy--all the paranoia involved--it said a lot. It sure wasn’t like that Time cover and all those other puff pieces he’s gotten. It was more like the real person.”