John Sergeant 'airbrushed out of Goats'

Documentary maker John Sergeant has accused the makers of The Men Who Stare at Goats of airbrushing him out of the real-life story that inspired it and not crediting his work.

Author Jon Ronson dedicated his non-fiction book on which the movie is based to Sergeant and the filmmaker claims that he persuaded key figures to tell their story on camera.

However, the upcoming adaptation, which features George Clooney, Ewan McGregor and Kevin Spacey, does not credit Sergeant in any way, the Irish Independent reports.

Sergeant said: "I worked intensely through 2003 and 2004 on it. I never formally agreed for the material I unearthed to be used in other media, and I was extremely uncomfortable when it was, especially when I was airbrushed out of things.

"Ewan McGregor is playing this character who finds the story. Jon presents that person as himself but really, it is me."

Sergeant was not invited to the screening of the movie at the London Film Festival last month, but gave its artistic director Sandra Hebron a letter to pass on to George Clooney's publicist to outline his concerns.

However, Clooney's publicist Stan Rosenfield said: "George is not aware of any attempt to reach him."

> Click here to watch a trailer for The Men Who Stare At Goats