Michael Moore, Piers Morgan Clash Over Moore's Wealth (VIDEO)

Piers Morgan and Michael Moore clashed about Moore's own wealth during a special edition of Morgan's show on Tuesday.

The show featured a live audience (HuffPost Media was invited to watch the taping) and focused on the Occupy Wall Street movement. Moore has been one of the most conspicuous supporters of Occupy Wall Street, making constant appearances on television to promote the movement.

Moore refused to play along when Morgan attempted to pin him down about how much he is worth. "You're in the 1 percent, right?" Morgan asked, using the terminology for the richest Americans made famous by OWS. "I'm not in the 1 percent," Moore said.

Morgan scoffed at this, apparently finding it hard to believe. "You're one of the most successful filmmakers in the country!" he said. "No, I'm not," Moore replied. "For a documentary filmmaker, I do very well." The back-and-forth continued in that vein, with Moore saying he felt "blessed" that he could "do what I want to do."

"I need you to admit the bleeding obvious," Morgan said. "I need you to sit here and say, I'm in the 1 percent, because it's important." Moore refused, saying, "I'm not." He said that the real point was that, even though he is wealthy, "I am devoting my life to those who have less and who have been crapped upon by the system. And that's how I spend my time, my energy, my money on trying to up-end this system that I think is a system of violence, it's a system that's unfair to the average working person of this country."

During a commercial break, Moore looked at a graphic that the show had put on the screen which said that the people in the 1 percent category made more than a million dollars a year. He told Morgan that he wanted to put his 1040 tax return up on the screen to show him that he made less than that, and was thus not a member of that elite group.

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Moore also denounced the police in Oakland for their violent crackdown on peaceful protesters in the Bay Area city. The show was interspersed with images from Oakland, where protesters were tear-gassed and hit with rubber bullets by the police. Morgan said that violence was happening "on both sides," but Moore shot that argument down.

"There's no violence coming from the Occupy protesters," he said. "...What we've seen across the country are a series of police riots, where the police are rioting, where the police have gotten violent. These are Americans who are in the American tradition standing up for what they believe in...and this is a movement that cannot be stopped with billy clubs or this kind of behavior."

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Comments

[usernamethatmightwork]

02:30 AM on 12/08/2011

Just because someone is part of the 1% doesn't mean they can't support the Occupy movement. Piers is an idiot or just trying to confuse the issue on purpose. Who cares if MM makes 10 million dollars, he still supports the Occupy movement. Rich people are not the problem and not the enemy. It's a system that systemically supports the widening of the rich and poor.

[JoePenn]

11:06 AM on 11/06/2011

Morgan's the same "status quo" stand-in that 110-year old Larry King was - that he's a Brit only irritates the situation, made worse by his "no, I wasn't involved and had no knowledge" of the Murdoch NOTW phone hacking scandal, despite the fact that he wrote about it in his book a few years ago.

[yellowdogmb]

09:09 AM on 10/31/2011

Piers, of course is missing the point it's okay to be successful and even rich but it's more important to use that advantage to make real changes so that society as a whole is better off. I tend to believe that the Koch bros. don't see things that way at all.

[Joebob Mcdaniel]

10:12 PM on 10/30/2011

Look at what happen in lexington ky court room.two fed workers 1 a fed.prosacuter the other just a fed agent .a 750.000 car was stoling and the F.B.I. found it and had it pulled to the office for investacation .so one day these two walks up and decides to go for a joy ride in this car.they wreaked it and tore it up.then they wouldn't pay for the car said they was not responseable for it.so the insur.company had to sue to try to get the pay the judge said they were not responsable for it and dismissed the case.IS THIS WHAT YOU PEOPLE CALL RIGHT. THEIR ARE 4 HERE THAT SHOULD GET THEIR WALKING PAPERS BUT THIS REALY SHOWS WHO THE BAD PEOPLE ARE WITH LEADERS LIKE THIS ITS LIKE THROWING GAS ON A FIRE.THE PRES. SHOULD FIX THIS FIRST IF NOT HE NEEDS REPLACED THIS IS BULLSHIT

[balancecombat]

08:25 PM on 10/30/2011

I am a buisness man who has work for myself all of my life. I have done well and for the most part I have done what I wanted to do, when I wanted to do it . I did this through the American way. Even though I worked hard, I was lucky, just as every successful person in this world is. I not saying we should an equal distribuation of wealth in this country, but we have a moral obilgation to see that surplus resources are use first to allow for a standard of living for all.. Then let the rich get as rich as want. It wiil be a better country, And once we do it, we will never figure out why we waited so long.

[dharmadhatuzoo]

11:07 AM on 10/30/2011

When Piers claims that violence is coming from both sides, one wonders who owns him.

[Rick Shreiner]

09:14 AM on 10/30/2011

Piers Morgan acting like a FAUX Noise journalist, right there on CNN .. ..

[RhinnoSnot]

03:17 AM on 10/30/2011

People miss the point, unlike Cuba; we live in a free country.
The only gains that can be confiscated are ones garnered through illegal or by fraudulent means. The government grab has to be validated by an independent judiciary.
True, there is Inheritance Tax, Capital Gains and the Gift Tax, but that is not Income Tax. You are free to sell fake rubber dog sh#% on E-Bay for whatever income you can generate, it is nobody’s business.
The federal tax law has nothing to with how income is earned, only the appropriate rate per income bracket. Obama, nor anyone in his administration, writes tax law. Congressional staffers for Senate Finance and House Way & Means members write the tax law. Allot of lobbying, congress follows votes; votes follow jobs and nobody follows bullhorns.
Quit worrying about Michael Moore. A morbidly obese man preaching against excess, to become filthy rich, then to pretend he is middle class. He is a character, if he quits his character, he does not make any more money.

[Lauderdell]

01:40 PM on 11/05/2011

You can sell the doggie doo on ebay, but you can't lie and say that putting it on your face will cure wrinkles (or can it?)

[imtruthmonger]

05:59 PM on 10/29/2011

Piers Morgan is desperate to make right-wing fantasy appear to have something to do with reality. It's his job and he takes it seriously. Michael Moore is the guy I trust. If people would go back and review his documentary films they would realize that he has predominately been correct about the topics he chose to cover. Still, there are a vast number of right-wing 99%'ers who refuse to watch them because of the misguided perception that he is not "one of them." Nothing could be further from the truth.

[TheStrayYogi]

07:47 AM on 10/29/2011

If someone is bashed by rightwingers the way i read in these comments, he must have done something right....

[GuiltyUndertaker]

03:12 PM on 10/29/2011

If right-wingers are bashing Michael Moore he must be doing something right.

[DWAYNE CORREA]

08:15 AM on 11/06/2011

He is doing a lot right.

[derivoman]

06:03 PM on 10/28/2011

Oh my, Mr. Moore apparently had an epiphany. He's now "admitting" he is the 1%. I'm sure he'll immediately issue an apology to Piers Morgan. Moore's antics are just laughable.

[GuiltyUndertaker]

03:01 PM on 10/29/2011

Moore earns his money. As a Cleveland Browns fan I can think of a lot of rich men who don't earn it.

[nvr2late]

11:54 AM on 10/30/2011

Yes. People who have hearts and truly care are laughable is what you're saying.

[TomDi]

06:03 PM on 10/28/2011

Michael Moore is fraud and a hypocrit. Not only is he a 1%er, he owns stocks such as Haliburton. Not saying that's a bad thing for any investor to own but when he puts down Cheny and Bush for ties with that company you'd think he'd avoid it in his million dollar portfolio. He's a joke and is using the tools in the street to sell his fake documentaries.

[nihilzi]

11:22 PM on 11/05/2011

Evidence that Moore owns Haliburton stock please

[DWAYNE CORREA]

08:16 AM on 11/06/2011

...will not be forthcoming. These trolls make it up as they go.

[DocSAR]

03:32 PM on 10/28/2011

Michael Moore is CLUELESS...................As far as his income is concerned he's not only in the top 1% but probably in the top 0.1%

[GuiltyUndertaker]

03:00 PM on 10/29/2011

He earned it. God bless him.

[DWAYNE CORREA]

08:18 AM on 11/06/2011

He earned it spreading truth, God does bless him.

[discocapper]

01:51 PM on 10/28/2011

Why do people complain about Michael Moore? He only lies when he opens up his mouth.

[GuiltyUndertaker]

03:11 PM on 10/29/2011

If that were true he'd be a politician.

[discocapper]

03:55 PM on 10/29/2011

To some degree he is. His role in life is to manipulate people into believing things, most of which aren't true. Anyone with the stones to peddle Fahrenheit 9/11 as a documentary should run for office.

[jscratz]

04:42 AM on 10/28/2011

Nothing wrong with being part of the one percent. What matters is HOW you made your money and WHAT you do with it.

[MWA1111]

06:36 PM on 10/28/2011

Fine, then why did he lie so vehemently about it?

[jscratz]

06:55 PM on 10/30/2011

I agree. Shame on him for not defending his real beliefs.