US singer Linda Ronstadt's eviction from a hotel in Las Vegas for praising film maker Michael Moore has become the latest celebrity free-speech controversy to hit the 2004 presidential campaign.
The New York Timesran an editorial condemning the move, and Moore demanded she receive an apology and promised to appear on stage with her singing "America the Beautiful" if she did.
The Aladdin Hotel is standing by its decision to remove her from a stage show to a waiting tour bus on Saturday night. A spokeswoman for the current Aladdin ownership, Tyri Squyres, said Ronstadt "was there to entertain not make a politically charged comment."
Squyres said when Ronstadt praised Moore as a "great patriot" for making the anti-Iraq war film Fahrenheit 9/11, about half the audience of 4500 people booed and left and about 100 demanded their money back even though Ronstadt was singing an encore.
Some people said the crowd was "liquored up" and Squyres said one reason Ronstadt was asked to go was "to defuse the situation."
Planet Hollywood International which, with others, has agreed to buy the casino and is seeking a state gaming licence, said that when it took over one of the first things it would do was invite Ronstadt back to sing.
For some, the incident was the latest example of a rising tide of anti-Bush remarks from prominent entertainers that has become a side-show to the battle for the White House.
Ronstadt's dedication of a encore song to Moore was mild in comparison to comedian Whoopi Goldberg's obscene comments about the president at a John Kerry fundraiser or Ozzy Osbourne projecting Mr Bush's image onto that of Adolf Hitler's during a rock concert.