Post by musicradio77 on Mar 25, 2005 17:42:43 GMT -5
From the New York Post:
Hot 97's Vicious "Smackfest" KO'd
By FREDRIC U. thingyER State Editor
ALBANY — "Smackfest" just got smacked down.
State officials yesterday ordered Hot 97 to stop its controversial Smackfest, in which women wallop each other in the face.
The girl-on-girl contests — which sometimes draw blood — amount to an illegal boxing match that could lead WQHT-FM officials to be charged with a crime, the state Athletic Commission said.
What's more, the commission warned station general manager Barry May — as well as Jeffrey Smulyan, chairman of parent company Emmis Communications — that WQHT faces a $10,000 civil fine if it continues.
State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is also probing Smackfest.
"There is a state law designed to protect people from potentially dangerous and demeaning competitions, [and] we are trying to determine whether Hot 97 is complying with that law," said Spitzer spokesman Darren Dopp.
The zapping of Smackfest comes after The Post reported on Sunday that a half-dozen City Council members asked Spitzer to rule the bouts out of bounds under the state law barring unlicensed fights.
Athletic Commission Executive Deputy Commissioner Hugo Spindola, in a letter sent to May and Smulyan yesterday, ordered the station to "immediately cancel any and all present and/or future 'Smackdown' [sic] events which may be scheduled to take place."
In the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Post, Spindola warned the executives that they appeared to be conducting an "illegal boxing event," which, under New York law, is a criminal misdemeanor.
Hot 97, which bills itself as the "Official No. 1 station for hip-hop and R&B," sparked outrage last month by running contests in which women smack each other in their faces in order to compete for a grand prize of $5,000.
Digitally streamed video of the bloody Smackfests are currently being promoted on Hot 97's Web site, although the events themselves have at least temporarily been stopped due to what the station previously described as "staff shortages."
During one of the matches, Hot 97 DJ Ebro Darden intervened to stop the smacking, saying, "We got mouth blood." But he brought the women back moments later for more smacking.
Smulyan called Spitzer's probe "pure political opportunism," adding, "We find it hypocritical that the attorney general is going after Hot 97" and not other radio and TV stations.
"The Smackfest promotion has already been shut down, and we do not believe it violated the law in any way. In fact, hundreds of consenting adults signed up," he said.
Hot 97's Vicious "Smackfest" KO'd
By FREDRIC U. thingyER State Editor
ALBANY — "Smackfest" just got smacked down.
State officials yesterday ordered Hot 97 to stop its controversial Smackfest, in which women wallop each other in the face.
The girl-on-girl contests — which sometimes draw blood — amount to an illegal boxing match that could lead WQHT-FM officials to be charged with a crime, the state Athletic Commission said.
What's more, the commission warned station general manager Barry May — as well as Jeffrey Smulyan, chairman of parent company Emmis Communications — that WQHT faces a $10,000 civil fine if it continues.
State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is also probing Smackfest.
"There is a state law designed to protect people from potentially dangerous and demeaning competitions, [and] we are trying to determine whether Hot 97 is complying with that law," said Spitzer spokesman Darren Dopp.
The zapping of Smackfest comes after The Post reported on Sunday that a half-dozen City Council members asked Spitzer to rule the bouts out of bounds under the state law barring unlicensed fights.
Athletic Commission Executive Deputy Commissioner Hugo Spindola, in a letter sent to May and Smulyan yesterday, ordered the station to "immediately cancel any and all present and/or future 'Smackdown' [sic] events which may be scheduled to take place."
In the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Post, Spindola warned the executives that they appeared to be conducting an "illegal boxing event," which, under New York law, is a criminal misdemeanor.
Hot 97, which bills itself as the "Official No. 1 station for hip-hop and R&B," sparked outrage last month by running contests in which women smack each other in their faces in order to compete for a grand prize of $5,000.
Digitally streamed video of the bloody Smackfests are currently being promoted on Hot 97's Web site, although the events themselves have at least temporarily been stopped due to what the station previously described as "staff shortages."
During one of the matches, Hot 97 DJ Ebro Darden intervened to stop the smacking, saying, "We got mouth blood." But he brought the women back moments later for more smacking.
Smulyan called Spitzer's probe "pure political opportunism," adding, "We find it hypocritical that the attorney general is going after Hot 97" and not other radio and TV stations.
"The Smackfest promotion has already been shut down, and we do not believe it violated the law in any way. In fact, hundreds of consenting adults signed up," he said.