The company distributing a new documentary on the backlash against the Dixie Chicks is accusing two TV networks of stifling free speech after they allegedly refused to accept a commercial spot for the film.

In a statement released late Thursday, Weinstein Co. claimed that NBC and CW refused to air nationwide commercials to promote the documentary "Shut Up & Sing."

Weinstein distributed documents that appeared to be from NBC's advertising standards division turning down the ads and saying that the network "cannot accept these spots as they are disparaging to President Bush."

The CW also rejected the ads, the distribution company alleged, saying in a letter that it did "not have the appropriate programming in which to schedule this spot."

Harvey Weinstein, who runs the company with his brother, Bob, accused the networks of stifling free speech.

"It's a sad commentary about the level of fear in our society that a movie about a group of courageous entertainers who were blacklisted for exercising their right of free speech is now itself being blacklisted by corporate America," he said.

An NBC executive declined comment, according to the Hollywood Reporter, while CW said the allegations were inaccurate.

CW told the Reporter that there had been discussions about taking the spot but those talks never went beyond where the commercial would run.

"Shut Up & Sing" debuts in Los Angeles and New York on Oct. 27 and opens in all other theatres on Nov. 10.

The film, directed by Oscar-winning director Barbara Kopple and filmmaker Cecilia Peck, explores the controversy that followed the country music darlings after lead singer Natalie Maines' infamous off-the-cuff remark about U.S. President George Bush during a concert.

"We do not want this war, this violence. And we're ashamed that the president of the United States is from Texas," she said at a concert in London, just days before the U.S. military would invade Iraq.

Singer Natalie Maines told talk show host Oprah Winfrey she made the comment because she felt obligated to speak up after following the news closely in the days leading up to the concert.

"We talked about it nonstop, all the time, and were very into politics and things at the time. We just talked about how silly it felt and how trite it felt to have to put on a show when such serious things were going on in the world," she said in an interview that aired Wednesday.

"But we've always known that our job is to perform and that people spend their money to see the music and to see a show. I think a part of me knew I had to say something about it just so people don't think that we're shallow and we don't care what's going on. But I also didn't want to get too heavy because we are performers and are on stage."

The fallout came quick and heavy. Radio stations pulled their once-popular songs from their playlists, the Chicks were branded un-American and traitors, their concerts and CDs were blacklisted, and they received death threats.

Four days after the incident, Maines issued a statement that read: "As a concerned American citizen, I apologize to President Bush because my remark was disrespectful. I feel that whoever holds that office should be treated with the utmost respect."

She doesn't know if she would make the same apology today.

"At the time, a lot of things hadn't happened -- a lot of people hadn't died and Hurricane Katrina hadn't happened. I did feel that the office of the President should be shown respect, but I have to say you just sometimes...you have to earn people's respect," Maines told Winfrey.

The commercial, posted at http://myspace.com/shutupandsing, features footage of Maines making the comment about the president, as well as scenes of anti-Dixie Chicks protests that erupted in response to the remark.

"We wanted to definitely capture the feeling of American in 2003 and just how crazy it was and the stuff that happened to us and just document it for future generations," Maines told eTalk when the film debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

"I definitely want it to be something I can show my kids and make them aware these things still go on no matter what year it is."

The Dixie Chicks documentary isn't the only new movie to court controversy.

Earlier this week, CNN and National Public Radio turned down spots for Gabriel Range's "Death of a President", which portrays the fictional assassination of U.S. President George Bush.

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