Posted on 07/13/2006 6:17:19 PM PDT by LdSentinal
NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Former CBS News anchor Dan Rather says he has considered filing a lawsuit against the network where he had worked for 44 years.
Appearing Wednesday night on CNN's "Larry King Live," Rather paused after a question from King and then said he wouldn't talk about whether he would file a lawsuit against CBS. But he acknowledged, "I can't say that I've never thought about it."
It wasn't clear from the interview what Rather considered to be possible grounds for a lawsuit.
A CBS spokesman commented late Wednesday after the interview, saying, "CBS believes that it has dealt with Dan's departure in a completely fair, equitable and honest way, and we wish him nothing but the best." CBS declined further comment.
Rather said that he brought up several times while at CBS that, after his departure from the anchor desk and assignment as a "60 Minutes" correspondent, the network wasn't living up to its end of his contract. CBS has said that with the many "60 Minutes" correspondents, there weren't enough assignments for him.
Rather said that he had never been told what led to his departure from CBS. He said he wasn't sure whether it was related to the aftermath of the "60 Minutes Wednesday" story on President Bush's military career that relied in part on unsubstantiated documents.
"They handled it in a curious way," Rather told King about the circumstances surrounding his departure. "I wish I knew the whole story, I wish I had an opportunity to say, 'Hey, what's happening? It's Dan, you know me."'
He also said that he had never heard from the head of the corporation or the head of the news division. Rather didn't mention in Wednesday's interview that the day after CBS announced he had left the network, he went to lunch with CBS News president Sean McManus. McManus is said to have explained to Rather that it was McManus's decision and that there wasn't enough work on "60 Minutes" to suit Rather.
Rather wouldn't directly answer former colleague Mike Wallace, who questioned his behavior after the "Memogate" scandal that led to the firing of producer Mary Mapes and the forced resignation of four other CBS employees. Wallace and others, including several in the CBS old guard, said Rather should have resigned.
"They have to answer for themselves for the times in the past when things might not have gone right," Rather said.
As for the September 2004 "60 Minutes Wednesday" report on President Bush, Rather said that CBS had been the victim of forces that wanted to attack the weakest part of the story.
"Do I believe the truth of the story? Absolutely," Rather said.
Dibs on the popcorn concession.
Good Lord, they handled it in a more than fair way. If I had been in charge, they'd have hauled his @$$ out in handcuffs.
Say, who's got a copy of that GREAT picture of Howard Dean where the Capitol police are hauling him away screaming and fighting? I know it's Photoshopped, but it would be so much fun to have one of those of Rather.
Ping to more Rather madness and yet another lawsuit.
Court TV is going to get a lot more advertising money next year!
A friend once told me, "the liberal media always eats its dead."
Now he'll have to add, "and vice versa."
Rather suing cBS would be hard to improve on.
hehehe
I do believe you're right.
Yep, that vast ol' right wing conspiracy was out to get Danny boy and his making CBS look bad, dishonest, etc. had nothing to do with it. Danny was a victim, pure and simple and clearly, it was Bush and Rove's fault. He should sue CBS until they realize the mistake they made.
I'm sure that he really wanted to sue The Free Republic, but, he knew that he had zero chance against the real truth that brought him down.
In other news, Julius "Dr. J" Erving has announced that he is suing the Philadelphia 76ers because he's not on their 2006 payroll.
'He said he wasn't sure whether it was related to the aftermath of the "60 Minutes Wednesday" story on President Bush's military career that relied in part on unsubstantiated documents.'
What's the frequency Kenneth ?
From the movie "Who Cares?"
CBS would have an extremely strong countersuit against Rather for causing damages to their news organization.
"Do I believe the truth of the story? Absolutely," Rather said. Good lord. Rather, Wilson and Plame... losers that continue digging a hole. |
"Let's do it!"
"Let's do it!"
Rather will win BIG. He literally knows where the bodies are buried.
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