'ELIZABETH SMART' PRODUCT KIDNAPPED (Drudge)

TheDrudgeReport ^ | October 21, 2003 | Matt Drudge

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Elizabeth Smart's parents are losing control of a carefully orchestrated and lucrative November Sweeps rollout for official product based on the abduction of their daughter!

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The "Elizabeth Smart Story" [which many in the industry have dubbed "The Ed Smart Story"] began to unspool this week on schedule with an authorized Couric/Oprah one-two public relations punch.

But now Ed and Lois Smart and Doubleday, publisher of the upcoming book, are claiming the project has been kidnaped -- after CBS betrayed them by airing an unauthorized one-hour "news" special last Saturday night!

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According to the publisher, CBS had verbally agreed not to promote the pic until the week of Nov. 3, when the book campaign commences and after Couric had aired her exclusive sit-down with Elizabeth and her parents, DAILY VARIETY reports.

"CBS misled the Smarts and misled Doubleday regarding the timing of the movie promotion. We were all shocked and disappointed that they would break their verbal agreements," Doubleday exec veep for publicity Suzanne Herz said.

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As of late Monday, CBS had not returned several messages left by Doubleday. But an Eye spokesman told DAILY VARIETY's Pamela McClintock and Mike Schneider that CBS had not made any agreement with the publisher or the Smarts.

Developing...

[Bikers4Bush]

This is disgusting on all fronts.

[quark]

Would any of this disgusting stuff be happening if Elizabeth Smart was a fat, ugly kid?

[JennysCool]

Why ANYONE makes time in their life to view this sort of "docudrama" just flummoxes me anyway.

[mountaineer]

now Ed and Lois Smart and Doubleday, publisher of the upcoming book, are claiming the project has been kidnaped -- after CBS betrayed them by airing an unauthorized one-hour "news" special last Saturday night

One has to wonder what Ed and Lois think they have to gain from this.

[since1868]

It is time something is done about CBS.

[flamefront]

You mean like www . boycottcbs . org?

[PBRSTREETGANG]

In case of abduction dial the following authorities:

911
The FBI
America's Most Wanted
Your agent

[Palladin]

..."when first we practice to deceive"...

The ugly nature of the Smart family is coming out in all of these money-grubbing activities.

[since1868]

is there sucn a site?

[Behind Liberal Lines]

Would any of this disgusting stuff be happening if Elizabeth Smart was a fat, ugly kid?

Sure, but the character would still be played by a slim blonde. That's the way it always works.

[Richard Kimball]

You just got my vote for rhetorical question of the day.

[since1868]

Either that or Rikki Lake, with her hair dyed blond.

[Uncle Hal]

CBS appears to be batting 2 for 2 on the slime front. First the Reagan movie and now the Smart matter. It would seem the Smarts are are not very smart to get dupped in to this. I do not see that this movie is in their daughters best interest. Money I guess. During the kednapping there were rumors dad had a case of the shorts. Since the Reagans are public figures I assume they had no control over the movie about them.

[f.Christian]

a case of the shorts

Yeah ... money and brains --- serial incompetence !

[twigs]

The only thing ugly about the Smart family is in the eye of the beholder.

[newgeezer]

The only CBS show I watch with any regularity (?) -- two weeks in a row, now -- is "The District" starring Craig T. Nelson.

The end of last week's episode featured Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. in a cameo appearance (as himself).

Needless to say, I went directly to the CBS Web site and fired off a bit of polite-yet-pointed feedback to the network before the show was 10 minutes gone. I mean, of the 535 members of Congress they could have picked, ...

[all4one]

I haven't and won't view any of these interviews. I find it morally repugnant that these parents would place their lives, and that of their abducted daughter out in the public. Once she was found after the 9 months that she was missing, their main comments at that time were that they wanted Elizabeth to have a "normal" life. This media circus is anything but normal.

The mere thought of having one of my children abducted and missing for 9 months is unbearable. Having a child returned after such a horrible ordeal is such a blessing; how could her parents use her now for financial gain.

[gridlock]

I find it interesting that the CBSNews 1-hour special is seen by all as transparent promotion for their upcoming Movie-of-the-Week. Nobody is even bothering to deny that the purpose of the News Division is to promote the Entertainment Division. So the Newsies make the story compelling, and the Entertainment Weenies sell the soap.

Disgusting. Anybody who watches TV Network News and expects to get a good product probably thinks that No-Name Brand Hot-Dogs are made from 100% Beef!

[Palladin]

Headline should read:

Elizabeth Smart, product, kidnapped.

That poor child is on the road of lifelong exploitation.