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Readers of The Envelope in yesterday's Times might have thought that Calendar staffer in New York Paul Lieberman's interview with Martin Scorsese was timely. It was all framed around the director's chances for winning an Oscar for The Departed — and would have been a nice get. Well, apparently all of the quotes came from a nearly two-year-old interview, and some already ran in the Times on Feb. 27, 2005. Scorsese isn't talking for the Oscar promotion for The Departed, and publicist Leslee Dart wants to make sure other media know he didn't speak to the Times this time. "He was embarrassed by all of the hoopla over 'The Aviator' and 'Gangs of New York,' " Dart told Page Six. "I think this is at best dubious ethics." No problem if Lieberman had specified when the interview took place. But he or the editors left it vague. The opening line of the story — "Back when Martin Scorsese was getting ready to direct The Departed, he confided..." — and an admission that Scorsese is "staying mum" this year hint that the quotes were vintage, but it could have been clearer.
LAT