A word from ‘Factory’ foreman

I found the comments about me in Choire Sicha’s interview with Guy Pearce puerile, salacious and not worthy of the Los Angeles Times [“Facing His Number 39,” March 25]. Alluding suggestively to my social life was so strange and out of context from the rest of Mr. Pearce’s interview that I question whether Sicha is simply not astute enough to distinguish me (as the director of “Factory Girl”) from the characters in my film, or whether this is just another sad revelation of the growing tabloid mentality of a once great newspaper.

“Factory Girl” was a challenging film to make for everyone involved. It was a labor of love project shot on a small budget with a lot of colorful characters involved. Passions ran high during production. Sadly, rumors and fabricated stories about making the film have spread and continue to spread, like a malignant tumor. Now my name has been dragged into the muck in a fashion that is more worthy of the Fleet Street press than the Los Angeles Times.

Perhaps this is just another disheartening indication of the direction this once great newspaper is headed, particularly after the departure of editor Dean Baquet.

Well, if the Los Angeles Times is going to spend less time on Iraq and more time on entertainment as mandated by its Chicago money-grubbing owners, then all of you there should at least get your facts straight.

GEORGE HICKENLOOPER

Pasadena