Michael Moore acknowledged having spoken with Smith at a GM shareholders' meeting in 1987, before he commenced filming, but said the encounter concerned a separate topic unrelated to the film. The filmmaker also told the Associated Press that if he had managed to secure an interview with Smith during production, then suppressed the footage, General Motors would have publicized the information to discredit him. "I'm so used to listening to the stuff people say about me, it just becomes entertainment for me at this point," he remarked. "It's a fictional character that's been created with the name of Michael Moore."