PBS pulls another Talk Show host off the air, this time its Tavis Smiley

TheBigA said:

So much for the proposal that Tavis Smiley could replace Charlie Rose.

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RadioPatrol said:

Now I can see larger PBS affiliates doing Local Shows in place of Smiley but what happens to the smaller PBS affiliates though now that they have to remove a second talk show in a month.

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TheBigA said:

Using the same logic to eliminate Congress.

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TeaPartyDude said:

KFI Mo Kelly use to work for this guy and has said a lot about his misconduct. This article was published months before the Mee Too campaign.

https://www.eurweb.com/2017/03/seni...misogynist-who-has-contempt-for-white-people/

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Kelly A said:

What a weird blog that doesn't seem to speak to the sexually-related accusations being leveled against Mr. Smiley. Instead, it's a recount from someone who's "heard" Tavis Smiley is a "mycologist" and "delusional". As far as I know, neither or those traits defines one a racist, nor is committing illegal behavior.

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The ousted anchor can't force PBS to hand over internal documents dating back decades and two of his claims have been dismissed.
Tavis Smiley can't force PBS to turn over documents related to every romantic relationship a network supervisor has had with a subordinate since the early 2000s, a judge has ruled.

Smiley in February sued the network after it dropped his show amid sexual misconduct allegations. PBS in March filed a countersuit that claimed Smiley violated the morals clause in his contract and sought to reclaim nearly $2 million it had paid him.

A Washington, D.C., judge on Thursday denied Smiley's request for a motion to compel PBS to hand over certain documents as part of a discovery request the network challenged as overbroad.

In its opposition, the pubcaster argued that he was requesting documents that dated back more than a decade and weren't relevant to the contract issues at hand, including the network's sexual harassment policies since 2000 and any records of PBS managers having a relationship with a subordinate and the resulting disciplinary actions, if there were any.

Judge Anthony Epstein found PBS responded reasonably to Smiley's discovery requests.

"TSM is not entitled to conduct a fishing expedition concerning all romantic or personal relationships between superiors and subordinates within PBS or within companies with which PBS did business," writes Epstein. "However, if TSM has information that PBS tolerated behavior inside PBS or within one or more of its partners that is comparable to the behavior in which Mr. Smiley is alleged to have engaged, or if other discovery in this case shows that PBS compared Mr. Smiley’s conduct with conduct of other people with whom it did business, targeted discovery may be appropriate."

Smiley also sought information related to PBS' decision to cancel his show. He contends the sexual misconduct allegations were a smokescreen and claims the network is "racially hostile." PBS disputes the claim but argues that it had the contractual right to cancel the show for any reason, including a racially discriminatory one, and therefore documents concerning its motives are irrelevant. Epstein isn't entirely convinced.

"The Court is not inclined to decide in the abstract, and in the discovery context, whether this principle applies if PBS terminated its distribution agreement for racially discriminatory reasons," writes Epstein. "TSM does not provide any specific information supporting its allegation that PBS would not have terminated the distribution arrangement if he were not African-American, but the Court is unwilling to make an open-ended ruling that a contractual provision or the First Amendment gives media companies a license to engage in discrimination based on race."

In denying the motion, Epstein also denied Smiley's request to file a 145-page memorandum in support of his motion to compel. Epstein criticized the filing as "mind-numbing" in its repetition and full of "wholly unnecessary" details, such as where Smiley got his undergraduate degree.

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