Post by bossradio93 on Jan 30, 2004 11:20:41 GMT -5
Being Franken and to the point
by Lloyd Gross, New York Daily News, 1.29
The lunch crowd at Michael's craned their necks yesterday as Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes bantered with Fox News nemesis Al Franken.
"Will you go on my radio show?" demanded Franken, who's launching a liberal talk radio venture in a couple of months. "Remember that I helped you out once when you asked me to come on your radio show."
"I really don't do those things anymore," replied Ailes, who had dropped by the table on his way out of the restaurant. "I haven't done it in two years."
"Here, I do you a favor, and that's the thanks I get?" Franken persisted.
"Yeah," Ailes fired back, "but you were the only guest who ever demanded to be paid. I think we had to give you $12."
"That was for cab fare," the comedian insisted.
Franken, my lunch partner, also interrogated Ailes about the cable network's notorious lawsuit against him for appropriating the Fox News slogan in his book, "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right." The publicity over the unsuccessful suit helped turn Franken's book into a huge best seller.
"Whose idea was it to sue? Was it O'Reilly's?" Franken probed, referring to Fox News' Bill O'Reilly, star of "The O'Reilly Factor," whose photograph is prominent on the cover of Franken's book.
"I can tell you that it was August, and I was on vacation," Ailes parried. "I think I said, 'Let's send this over to the legal department,' and somebody there must have thought that meant sue. That's not what it meant."
"But was it O'Reilly who asked for the suit?" Franken repeated.
"Let me put it this way: It wasn't my idea - and it wasn't the legal department's," Ailes said. "Listen, talent always wants to sue about everything. ... It's the sort of thing that happens in August."
Franken quipped: "I'm planning to call my radio show 'The O'Franken Factor.' Do you think you can sue me again?"
Ailes just laughed.
Los Angeles Radio People-Jan. 29, 2004
by Lloyd Gross, New York Daily News, 1.29
The lunch crowd at Michael's craned their necks yesterday as Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes bantered with Fox News nemesis Al Franken.
"Will you go on my radio show?" demanded Franken, who's launching a liberal talk radio venture in a couple of months. "Remember that I helped you out once when you asked me to come on your radio show."
"I really don't do those things anymore," replied Ailes, who had dropped by the table on his way out of the restaurant. "I haven't done it in two years."
"Here, I do you a favor, and that's the thanks I get?" Franken persisted.
"Yeah," Ailes fired back, "but you were the only guest who ever demanded to be paid. I think we had to give you $12."
"That was for cab fare," the comedian insisted.
Franken, my lunch partner, also interrogated Ailes about the cable network's notorious lawsuit against him for appropriating the Fox News slogan in his book, "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right." The publicity over the unsuccessful suit helped turn Franken's book into a huge best seller.
"Whose idea was it to sue? Was it O'Reilly's?" Franken probed, referring to Fox News' Bill O'Reilly, star of "The O'Reilly Factor," whose photograph is prominent on the cover of Franken's book.
"I can tell you that it was August, and I was on vacation," Ailes parried. "I think I said, 'Let's send this over to the legal department,' and somebody there must have thought that meant sue. That's not what it meant."
"But was it O'Reilly who asked for the suit?" Franken repeated.
"Let me put it this way: It wasn't my idea - and it wasn't the legal department's," Ailes said. "Listen, talent always wants to sue about everything. ... It's the sort of thing that happens in August."
Franken quipped: "I'm planning to call my radio show 'The O'Franken Factor.' Do you think you can sue me again?"
Ailes just laughed.
Los Angeles Radio People-Jan. 29, 2004