‘Selma’ Director: Ex-LBJ Aide’s Criticism Of My Film Is ‘Jaw Dropping’

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The director of “Selma” pushed back this week against a screed attacking the film by a former assistant to President Lyndon B. Johnson, calling the views “jaw dropping and offensive.”

Former Johnson aide Joseph A. Califano Jr. blasted the Martin Luther King, Jr. movie an op-ed in the Washington Post on Friday, claiming it unfairly portrayed his onetime boss in an negative light.

“The movie should be ruled out this Christmas and during the ensuing awards season,” he wrote, saying that the historic civil rights march in the film was actually “LBJ’s idea.”

Director Ava DuVernay was not convinced by his argument. Replying to a critic’s tweet mentioning the Califano op-ed on Sunday, DuVernay took the ex-official to task:

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