Mother Teresa defenders sue CBS Radio

[newsperson]

One of the big setbacks in the development of 106.9 Free-FM was losing their strong willed personalty John London a few months ago. In fact, according to papers filed it was CBS Radio CEO Joel Hollander who made the decesion to fire London. This was after Penn Jillette called Joel Hollander to complain about London's comments and asked for his firing.This started when Jillette suggested on his show that the late Mother Teresa got turned on by seeing people die. He then said Parris Hilton should turn down a potential role in a movie about Mother Teresa because it was beneath her. Immediately following on London's show he quickly fired back at Jillette, noting that he had said that words do not hurt people. "How about if I give somebody 5,000.00 to kill ya? I'll add 2,000 to that if there's some suffering attached to it" According to London's lawyer, the death threat was clearly in jest.I only heard London on air once and heard about his on-air complaints about Free-FM's inabiliity to hire qualified people. I did admire his balls in doing that and in fact they have been very slow in making hiring decisions.The laywer goes on to say that the station recived no compaints about the comments and that CBS is obligated to fulfill their contracts and can not be pressured by Jillette to fire them - solely because he does not like what was said about them. Dennis Cruz and Chris Townsend who were also fired are Plantiff's in the suit. Further details are in RBR newspaper.I would like to hear some replies if you think London and or Jillette should have been fired or suspended?My opinion is that they both should have just been suspended, take advantage of the press and get back on the air hating each other. If firings had to occur then they both should have been fired. I may sound like I am a personal friend of London but I am not. What occured here reminds me of two disc jockeys on air at the same station. They refer to each other everday and dish out more as time goes on. All of a sudden one of the disc jockey's "feelings are hurt" (ah poor soul) and then they ask the owner to fire the other. In other words one can dish it out but cannot take it. Although they are talk personalties in a major market, the way the firings occured does really seem like disc jockeys in a small market.A real strong willed male or female personality is more attractive not only if they can dish it out, but if they can take it in stride as well!I enjoyed writing this and expressing my opinions. I look forward to reading your replies and hearing your opinions on these issues.

 

[LKellerIII]

I agree - and I'm no particular fan or detractor of John London's. I hever caught his Free FM show, and also missed his tenure at KNBR, so I probably haven't heard him speak since the KMEL Morning Zoo. Corporate owners always want contoversy, and expect their talk or drive time personalities to be as outrageous as the law allows. London's remarks were neither obsence (in the sexual or 7 forbidden word sense), or racial. Also, I think a post 9/11 mentality is at work here - we're now more sensitive to anything that can be considered a death threat, though I don't think London's remarks quite rose to that level.While the station owners expect their personalities to be contoversial to keep listeners tuned it, they are willing to abandon them when they step over that fuzzy line, even unintentionally. I think London DID step over that line, but should have been hand-slapped (suspended without pay for a week or 2, maybe), not fired. Same thing with Larry Kreuger. It was a stretch to characterize the "Caribbean Hitter" remark as racist...it was really more...geographic-ist. But the former owners of KNBR clearly had a specific agenda, since they were trying to sell a station most known for running Giants games.

 

[DyingMedium]

Well, I think those who believe London was canned because Jilette asked for him to be are very naive. Jillette did indeed get several death threats after London made his comments on the air....and, I don't know how many times I have to say this, you CANNOT joke on the air about having somebody killed. And you certainly can't put a price on it while doing so. It's always been a big no-no. Everyone is always so shocked when someone gets canned for this...They shouldn't be. Put yourself in KIFR's position...suppose someone had actually tried to harm Jillette (I think he sucks on the air, too...but that's another issue)? KIFR would've been on the hook for whatever gargantuan lawsuit was filed after that. Yes, corporations want "buzz" but they don't want to be defending themselves after one of their hosts makes a death threat, however jokingly. Also, let's not forget London called up CBS exec Joel Hollander and put him live on the air without even asking him. Then, somewhere in the middle of his tenure at KIFR, London commented on the air "who was the dildo who decided to hire Penn Jillette"? Wellll...who do you think that "dildo" was?Look, I thought London was hysterical. But the guy has problems with personal responsibility. He sued ClearChannel after leaving L.A. I would guess the only reason he didn't sue KNBR is because they just didn't renew his contract and he was legally screwed on that one. Then he sues KIFR after he stepped in it and AFTER they asked him repeatedly to clarify his comments on the air. The suit will be tied up in legal land forever before its resolved. As far as Townsend and Cruz being apart of the suit...who cares about them?? Obviously London didn't when he went down in flames. Why in the world would KIFR keep them on? They were obviously a package deal with London...Who has seemingly burned bridges with just about every major radio company in the country. Bye Jon...come back when you get some common sense...or the FCC repeals mass corporate ownership - whichever comes first.

 

[MarvinMiles]

Imagine the ratings it would have generated by those two flapping their jaws on air. Firing them guarantees further bland programmming by CBS Radio.ANOTHER blunder by the CBS birdbrains.

 

[BossRadioDJ]

I don't know if this reference is too obscure (considering that it dates back to the first half of the last century), but I get the feeling that -- if it happened today -- the network executives in charge would fire Fred Allen and suspend Jack Benny for their "radio feud," rather than milking it for every ounce of ratings and buzz it generated.For the uninitiated:http://www.radiohof.org/comedy/fredallen.htmlhttp://www.radiohof.org/comedy/jackbenny.htmlD.J.

 

[DyingMedium]

Wrong. They WERE battling...London crossed the line.

Imagine the ratings it would have generated by those two flapping their jaws on air. Firing them guarantees further bland programmming by CBS Radio.ANOTHER blunder by the CBS birdbrains.

 

[drtylawndre]

Re: Mother Teresa ...Bernie Ward Lion of the Left / catholic carper

Bernie Ward AKA Lion of the Left is one of the bay area's key catholic carper....what has he said about this situation if anything? I didn't mind her helping the poor...I thought putting her on that block of ice after she past was goulish......Maybe London and Penn and Teller should set-up a condom distribution program in India?