Sheen defends right of actors to speak out

Martin Sheen defended the rights of Hollywood anti-war activists to express their views in an opinion piece published Monday in the Los Angeles Times.

"Whether celebrity or diplomat, cabdriver or student, all deserve a turn at the podium," Sheen wrote.

Sheen criticized those who he said were trying to denigrate his and other Hollywood activists' views "solely due to our celebrity status."

The 62-year-old actor, who plays the president on NBC's "The West Wing," said celebrity activists carry added responsibility because their statements are likely to receive press coverage.

"As a result, we are often called to give voice to the voiceless and a presence to the marginalized," wrote Sheen, who has frequently expressed sympathy for the people of Iraq.

His article was published next to an opinion piece by Esra Naama, an Iraqi-American from San Diego, who wrote that her family fled Saddam Hussein's brutal regime in 1992.

"When Martin Sheen, Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon and Barbra Streisand speak about the Iraqi people, they are not speaking about people like me," wrote Naama, a member of the nonprofit group Women for a Free Iraq.

He said the network fears his position will hurt the show. NBC representatives, however, said network executives have expressed no such concerns.