If you share my cynicism for electoral politics in general, or for the
hopes of third-party candidates in specific, news of the candidacy of
Matt Hooker will be a breath of fresh air.
Hooker's platform shows him to be a sensible and deliberative leader, in
touch with the emerging issues of our new century:
It's rare that a candidate takes such forthright views on issues like the overextension of patents (a regular argument on Slashdot but rarely on the radar elsewhere in the press). Rarer still is it that a candidate announces a position on Nicole Kidman:
Update: June 5, 2001. Ever since the temporary restraining order was erroniously made permanent on May 30th, I have on 5 different occasions seen someone who looks like Nicole, or seen a car that looks very much like the car her security guard, Larry Allison, was driving when he stopped on Capri Dr. and assaulted me on April 28th: near me or drive by me on the streets of Santa Monica. I don't know if this was Nicole and / or her security guard, or whether this is the same car, or whether this is just people playing sick games with me, but I am concerned. I have no intention of ever talking with or approaching Nicole again, and I made this clear to the police on April 28th. I have to worry now that Nicole Kidman and her security guards may be trying to put me in jail, by following me and making it appear that I have violated the injunction and restraining order. I was born in L.A., and am often in Santa Monica, Brentwood, Pacific Palisades, Venice, Marina del Rey, Beverly Hills, Malibu, Topanga, West Los Angeles, Hollywood, the Strip, and downtown, in addition to other places. I frequent both Santa Monica farmers markets as well as the Pacific Palisades and Beverly Hills farmers markets. I run on the beach, swim in the sea, and run, walk and hike all over the hills and Santa Monica mountains. I am an active music, film, ballet, theater, opera, book and art lover and attend functions and events whenever and wherever I can.
Nicole Kidman, and her security guard Larry Allison and her private investigator Richard DiSabatino, are liars who have wilfully, maliciously, fraudulently and viciously slandered me, wronged me and severly damaged my personal and professional reputation. All I tried to do was get her my script for "The Activist", which she had agreed to read to see if she wanted one of two female leads to co-star with me in the film; and to date her, since there was flirtation, chemistry and mutual interest on both sides when we met.
I am seeking an attorney to appeal the decision granting a permanent injunction against me; and to sue for slander, libel, defamation of character, other charges and associated damages. Please contact me at MattHooker@MattHooker.com if you are an attorney who would like to discuss representing me, or know of one who does.
On May 30th, 2001, in Superior Court in Santa Monica, California, The temporary restraining order was made permanent, as a permanent injunction was placed against me by the judge, who, in my opinion, disobeyed the law, did not give me a full chance to present my defense, and who should have dissolved the temporary restraining order on May 23rd, the original hearing date because plaintiff was not ready to proceed with the hearing, and there is a law that states that if either party is not ready to proceed the temporary restraining order must be dissolved, and I cited and read this law to the judge, who only replied that he wasn't going to dissolve this on a technicality (this was no legal technicality), so one could hear my side of the story. I am investigating whether this judge was in collusion with FOX, and whether he was paid off or compensated for giving Nicole Kidman all the media attention she wanted just at the opening of her film Moulin Rouge, which is produced and distributed by FOX. The original filing of the TRO, which came out of the blue and was entirely unwarranted, occurred immediately before the international opening of the film at the Cannes film festival, and they made the most media mileage out of the "stalking threat" that they could. By continuing the hearing from May 23rd to May 30th, they effectively timed the incident so that the news would comeout the day before the U.S. opening of the film, rather than 8 days before. At the hearing on May 30th, there was a FOX News camera that filmed the entire hearing. I objected to the filming of the hearing, and even stated that if the video camera stayed that I would walk out of the hearing; to which the judge replied that I could do whatever I liked, but that, against my objection, the video camera would stay. In addition, the postponement of the hearing, which I opposed and to which I objected, brought the hearing much closer to the US opening of Moulin Rouge. So much closer that the news reports of the injunction against me occured the day before the US opening of the film. FOX is known to be politically conservative, and is owned by conservative Republicans, and they were able to both promote their film and damage my reputation. I am a presidential candidate with civil libertarian views and I am a strong environmentalist, pro choice, pro decriminaliztion of victimless crimes - all policies which FOX owners, and President Bush and the Republicans oppose. Bush and FOX are anti-envoironmentalists. More on all this later.
Now I have lost my job because of it, had my good name and reputation trashed both in Hollywood and internationally; and have for the first time in my life a "record" with the police. All because Nicole Kidman lied and perjured herself in court documents, and because a private investigator by the name of Richard DiSabatino, who works for Intelligence Support Group, Ltd., lied and perjured himself in court and in documents filed with the court, and because one of her security guards, Larry Allison, who works for Screen International Security, lied and perjured himself in court and lied under penalty of perjury in a signed declaration submitted to the court; all three falsely testifying against me as they perjured themselves; and because the judge disobeyed the law. This is the same Larry Allison who assaulted me on April 28, 2001, on Capri Drive, between Sorrento and Amalfi, in Pacific Palisades, around 10:00 AM on Saturday April 28, 2001. There were two witnesses to this assault, and I ask them to please contact me immediately by e-mail at MattHooker@MattHooker.com.
I never did anything wrong. I never bothered or harassed or annoyed Nicole Kidman in any way, and neither her nor anyone working for her ever indicated to me that I had. I was shocked when I was served with a temporary restraining order, as I wrote on May 9th:
"Yesterday, May 8, 2001, around 6:30 p.m., I was served with a temporary restraining order from Nicole Kidman, for which there is no basis in reality. My good name and image have been slandered and libeled and damaged across the country and around the world. I have been wrongly named as a stalker and as dangerous. Contrary to what is erroniously, fraudulently and willfully and maliciously defamitorily alleged in the papers she filed against me:
I never stalked Nicole. I never followed her. I never threatened her or anyone else. I never acted aggressively towards her or anyone else. I never called her, as I have never had her phone number. I did not come to her home on "numerous occassions." Nicole encouraged my interest in her on at least three separate occasions after our initial meeting. As she left the bookstore after we met, she turned back towards me, and crooked her finger and pulled it towards her, indicating that she wanted me to follow her outside. Since I knew that her line "I have my dad for that", which she said to me as she was right next to her dad, was not spontaneous, and indeed was a very bizarre response to my asking her if she wanted to go have a drink, I just remained seated, thinking her behavior a bit bizarre. I explained it to myself that even though she was flirting with me, she felt uncomfortable about our mutual attraction because her father was right next to her. I had been told that she was crying every night and was very depressed, so I came by her home two times to try and cheer her up; once inviting her and her kids out for ice cream on a Sunday evening, the second and last time, to give her some wildflowers I had picked while on a hike nearby, and to invite her to the ballet. I have not "sent her letters". I sent her one letter which was returned to me as undeliverable due to her having no mailbox, and one note, included with the script which I delivered to C.A.A. This note was in a stamped, sealed envelope addressed personal and confidential for her, and it was returned to me without the envelope but with the script a few weeks later. (The note from C.A.A. stated that the script had never been read, but it obviously had from the condition it was returned in, which indicated that it probably also had been copied, as it appeared that the fasteners had been removed.) Thus, it was and is my belief that neither my script, which she had requested, nor my letter, nor my note, ever reached her. I have never been confronted at her residence; rather the second and last time I stopped by, after I left and was already on a different street and walking back to my car near a state park hiking trailhead, I was assaulted by a man in plainclothes who identified himself as a policeman, but would not provide I.D., and who was revealed by the real police, who I called to report the assault, as a Larry Allison, who works for her security company, Screen International Security. I have never been ordered off her premises and Nicole never told me that she wasn't interested. Nicole never asked or told me not to write her. Nicole never asked or told me not to drop by her home. After trying three times to take her out without success I had decided to stop trying, when I was assaulted by her security man - on a different street, well away from her home. I never cursed at her security agents. Nicole and I do know each other, although not well. She told me in person that she wanted to read my script "The Activist", and to send it to her through her agent, Rick Nicita, at Creative Artists Agency. I have not caused her any physical or emotional injury. I have not threatened to commit acts of violence against her or her kids - whom I have never met and would not even recognize.
There are numerous additional inaccuracies and misrepresentations in her testimony on the complaint, including, but not limited to: what was and was not said by myself, and by her security agents; the content and meaning of a message I posted on the internet; alleged conversations between myself and her management company; the number of times I rang her intercom buzzer; the number of times I asked her out for ice cream; and the length of time I was on the intercom; etc. In addition there are lies told under the penalty of perjury by a Richard DiSabatino, in a declaration attached to the complaint. I believe that we will find that Nicole has been acting under orders or doing a favor for someone else, by setting me up and harming my reputation like she has, from or by some people with a great deal to hide and worry about, probably those who have harmed me before.
It is truly disgusting to me that Nicole could sink so low to tell these vicious lies against me and destroy my character and reputation in the eyes of the public and the Hollywood community, both of which are very important to my career and life. Perhaps it is simply a case of "the best defense being a good offence," as she may have thought that I actually intended to sue her for her security agents' assualt on me; thus her lies and innaccuracies in the complaint. I believe, however, that this set-up involves far more than this, and is willfully malicious.
I have been subjected to severe harassment from the media these last two days. This Monday and Tuesday I was contacted by many newspapers and TV programs and I refused to comment, saying only that I didn't believe that Nicole had filed any kind of restraining order against me. I believe that a "gentleman never talks about a lady", and my intention, which I made quite clear to the police who took my assault report, was not to bother trying to date Nicole anymore. I told them clearly that I would not be coming to her home again. After I was served with the papers yesterday evening, I couldn't believe the lies that were put forth in the complaint against me, so I decided that I had to issue a denial and response, which I officially do with this press release.
The restraining order orders me to keep at least 250 yards away from:
- Nicole and her kids
- her home
- her place of work
- her children's school or place of child care
I have no intention of approaching this horrible woman again, however I insist that my name be cleared in this matter; and additionally, I want to continue to be able to hike the state park trailhead, access to which requires one to pass within 250 yards of her home. Also, I do not know where she works or where her children go to school or child care, and do not want to be set-up again by her, as I believe this whole thing - from Nicole flirting with me at Borders bookstore in March, to her issuance of the temporary restraining order Monday, but which I only found out about yesterday evening - was a set-up; willfully and maliciously intended to cause me severe emotional damage, financial loss, loss of opportunity, and severe damage to my personal and professional reputation.
I am an actor, as is Nicole, and I have no intention of letting this slander and libel against me keep me from doing what I want to do in the way of making great and profitable films and music. I am also a writer, a composer and arranger and songwriter, and will soon be a director. I suspect that the trial will uncover ulterior motives for this set-up and defamation of character. It may even have been intended to prevent me from obtaining the financing for my first feature film, "The Activist." Perhaps that is why the temporary restraining order lists my height as 6' 0" correctly and my weight erroniously at 140 lbs! I am a chisled, well muscled 165 lbs with no fat. Anyone 6' 0" and 140 lbs would not be a potential movie star. I will be a big star, and "The Activist", in which I will play the male lead, and which I will produce, direct and score, will be my entree to the top ranks of the film world.
I have had relatives call me saying that they are being contacted by the media, and that they saw television reports that named me as a dangerous stalker. Now, my personal and professional reputations have been severly damaged, and Nicole will have to pay for this. I will be filing suit against her, and the security agent who assaulted me. In addition I will do everything I can legally do to make her issue a renunciation of the temporary restraining order, publically saying that she has make a mistake, and to remove the temporary restraining order; and if it is still in existance, I will fight the temporary restraining order in court on May 23rd in Superior court at the Santa Monica civic center.
I will also be demanding equal time from the media outlets who participated in this severe defamation of character, so that I may explain what really happened: I met a very beautiful woman who flirted with me. I was interested, so I tried to romance her and date her and cheer her up. Since when is it a crime to ask to take a woman to the ballet and bring her hand-picked wildflowers, or to write a lovely poem about her and her beautiful eyes, or to ask to take her and her kids out for ice cream on a Sunday evening to cheer them up?"
Other possible reasons for this set-up to ruin me and drive me out of town.
I also have to wonder if this whole set-up, for that's what it surely is, has anything to do with a drugging and theft in which I was the victim over a year ago, and which the police will not investigate properly, and whether it has anything to do with some people in the Westside area that I believe to be involved with the drug trade, who wish to run me out of town. Also read below to find out how the actor Ben Affleck, and a jerk by the name of Brian Flohr who once attacked me in high school, have been stalking me. I also believe that it is Nicole who has been stalking me, and making it appear otherwise. I also have to wonder whether David Copperfield is involved, as he might be involved with the drugging and the theft that occured a year ago on the airplane, and in the past has followed me and attempted to provoke me into fighting with him (which bait I didn't take) when I was interested in dating Claudia Schiffer. I don't know how these people are able to follow me, and the police have refused all my previous requests to investigate these many incidents, and determine how people are able to follow and stalk me.
A man who I knew slightly in High School, and who at that time was violent with a bad temper and who attacked me and nearly choked me to death during a student council meeting and had to be pulled off me by 3 or 4 other students, a man named Brian Flohr, has been stalking me for over a year now. I hadn't seen him for over a decade, when one evening at Morton's on Melrose, I hear a man next to me introduce himself as Bruce Flohr, stating that he was in A & R at BMG Music. I turned around and asked him if he was related to Brian Flohr who attended Crespi High School. He said that he was his brother, and that he also attended Crespi. He knew me by name, and when I told him that I was an excellent singer-songwriter who has been looking for a record deal for 15 years, and who had written some great songs, "Time" and "Claudia" for my film "The Activist", for which I was seeking a production-distribution deal, he asked me if the song "Claudia" was for Claudia Schiffer. I replied that yes, I wrote it with her in mind for the role of "Claudia" in "The Activist". He asked me if she had heard the song. I replied that no, she hadn't yet. He gave me his card and told me to call him at the office. He was dining with a well known songwriter Diane Warren that evening - at least that's what he told me. I now believe that Bruce somehow followed me into Morton's just to meet me for some purpose. After getting the brush-off and no returned calls for the next month over 4 or 5 attempts to meet with Bruce and play him my songs, I gave up attempting to work with him. Someone who jerks me around and doesn't return my calls is no one I want to know or work with.
Some time after that, Brian Flohr appears at the door of the library study room in which I was working in the Santa Monica library, opens the door and said "Thanks a lot for Claudia. She's hot!" Then he closed the door and left. Then over the course of the next year, I kept seeing him following me - on the street, at the gym, and in the Sushi Roku restaurants in Santa Monica and West Hollywood. He would just smile a fake smile and wave goodbye at me. I never said a word to him. Then, just before I met Nicole, after I had left the Sushi Roku restaurant in Santa Monica, I waited outside for a while, around the corner, while making a call, and about 5 minutes later I heard a voice which I recognized to be that of a restaurant manager named Christian, say "he'll be gone in two months at the latest." I looked around the corner and saw Christian with a man who looked like Brian Flohr. They saw me and you could tell by their expressions that I wasn't meant to hear that. This manager, Christian, has openly bragged to me on numerous occasions that he is connected with the Mexican Mafia, and could supply me with any drugs I needed. ( I don't use any drugs and have never responded to these types of querries.) He keeps thick packs of 1 dollar bills on him, which he shows and talks about how it's for the "tittie bars" where he goes after work. In any case within a few weeks after overhearing that conversation, which I believe was referring to me, I was served eviction papers for my office which stated no cause, and I met Nicole, and couldn't get her agents to return my calls after Nicole told me in person to send my script to them for her to read.
In the months before I met Nicole, I noticed this Brian Flohr seemed to be following me on 3 or 4 occasions in Pacific Palisades up on Amalfi, near the hiking trailhead that I love so much. The day I asked if Nicole wanted to go to the ballet, I went to the ballet, and I saw Claudia Schiffer seated right behind Brian and Bruce Flohr! These aren't people who like the ballet. How did they know I was going to the ballet, and why did they follow me there? Of course, it's remotely possible that it was a coincidence, but with all the times this Brian Flohr stalked and followed me, I don't believe it to be. Also of interest is that with the Flohr's at the Greek theatre for the ballet was a woman who I feel sure I saw at the gate just before boarding the flight a year ago to Spain, the flight on which I was drugged, and my money, drivers license, mini address book and debit card were stolen, which caused me enormous suffering and harm. Could this be the Flohr's mother or sister? None of these people are friends of mine, obviously.
Additionally, about three months after my ruined trip to Spain and Cannes (I never got to Cannes), I made the mistake of renting a room at a great price on Euclid near Pico in Santa Monica, from a man who I overheard talking at the post office about how he had to leave town for the summer in less than a week and had a room for $200 a month 13 blocks form the beach. I jumped at the chance (I realize now that it was another set-up), and sub-let this man's room. This liar, Stan Kurtenbach, gave me his keys, and left town only to return less than a week later and move into the living room. He turned out to be a pot addict who harassed me and assaulted me and threatened me so that I had to move out and lose a month's worth of rent only 2 months after I moved in. The interesting thing is, that on a couple of occasions he had access to my room (his room, which I was subletting), and after I moved out I found the drivers license and debit card which were stolen from me on the flight in a zippered pocket in my jacket. Obviously he had put them there. He calls himself a personal trainer, and I once saw him on the street in front of the apartment talking to a man who looked like Brian Flohr, who was in a car with a surfboard on the roof rack. This man Stan, after he hit me (when I was already injured and wasn't looking), and after I had been forced by his violence and threats to move out, then proceeded to follow me around at least three times - twice on the street and once in the gym. Why did the police ignore my first call to 911 when he hit me when I wasn't looking with such force that it almost knocked me out? Why aren't the police investigating the drugging and theft on the airplane? Some people are obviously harassing me, perhaps out to force me out of town and discredit me. Obviously a group of pot and cocaine users has it out for me, or so it would seem. Is it just a coincidence that I believe all of these people to be drug users?
In addition, many of my business and creative ideas have been stolen form me and used to great profit by well-known Hollywood players and others in business. A man, who I do not know, and whom the police so far refuse to identify or investigate, admitted to me on two separate occasions that he had stolen ideas from me and he mocked me with that fact, laughing in my face, saying "thanks for the great ideas, keep 'em coming!". Both times he was driving a porsche with a California license plate "MIND SHR", which refers to "Mind Share", the fact that he and his gang were using ideas stolen from me, without my approval, and I couldn't do a thing about it. Of course I never agreed to share my ideas with anyone, rather he and his gang are invading my privacy, stealing form me using illegal methods, probably involving illegal electronic eavesdropping equipment and other spy equipment. These people ought to be put in jail for breaking the law and violating my rights; and they should be forced to compensate me for all profits derived from my ideas stolen from me, in addition to paying heavy punitive damages. Why are the police covering for this man, who I don't know, and who admitted twice that he has stolen from me? My guess is that he is connected with the film or music businesses in some manner. Anyone knowing this person's name and job and contact information, please e-mail me at MattHooker@MattHooker.com. Thank you.
Last but not least, why is Ben Affleck stalking me and following me? In the two months after I met Nicole I caught him following or stalking me 5 times: three times on the streets in Santa Monica, once on the hiking trail near Nicole's home, and once, on May 8, he, or someone who looks a lot like him followed me into the Men's room at my office, and, dressed like a Frenchman, with a "pencil" or "toothbrush" moustache, and a French shirt on, simply looked at me, smiled and waved goodbye and said "sorry". ( I guess this was supposed to mean that I couldn't go to Cannes this year, as the TRO prohibited me from "following" Nicole, who was going to Cannes to promote Moulin Rouge. (See how horrible this restraining order and injunction is for me. I'm in the same business as Nicole, and would normally attend many of the same functions and events.) One word - "sorry" - just like Tom Hanks said at the Academy Awards. Each time on the streets Ben would give a fake smile and wave goodbye to me from his car - just like Brian Flohr. I have to wonder if Ben is involved in the false allegations against me, so that he can attempt to steal the male lead in "The Activist" from me, so that he can ruin my reputation with leading actresses like Gwyneth Paltrow, or as a kind of anticipatory retribution since he knew I was soon to go public with the truth that the original idea for "Good Will Hunting", the film that made Ben and Matt Damon stars, was my idea and it was stolen from me. Ben - if you think by smearing me you can get Gwyneth (who recently had a real stalker harass her) back, or date Claudia, grow up.
What is going on here? I never did anything to these people? Why are they following me around and attempting to mess with my mind? People who harass me, screw me and steal from me, and when I expose them and tell the truth, they do it again, or do something worse, like the lies Nicole told, to discredit me. Just whose dirty work was Nicole doing here anyways?! I just ignore them. What sick game are they playing? It's much worse than a game to me, obviously, and I will do everything I can legally to protect myself and my rights, to put a permanent end to the theft of my ideas, and to force those who have stolen from me and / or profited from ideas stolen from me, to compensate me.