Gossip writer accused of extortion plot against billionaire

[T_i_B]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1749542,00.html

A writer on New York's most fabled gossip column is being investigated by the FBI after allegations that he tried to extort more than $100,000 (£57,460) from a Californian billionaire in exchange for "protection" from negative coverage.

Jared Paul Stern has been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation, according to a spokesman for the New York Post, the tabloid owned by Rupert Murdoch which features the Page Six column - a Manhattan institution that chronicles the misdeeds of the famous.

Stern, 36, is accused of demanding an initial $100,000 payment from the investor Ron Burkle, one of the richest men in the world, followed by an annual $10,000 stipend, after Mr Burkle complained that the column had run inaccurate stories about him.

"It's a little like the mafia: a friend of mine is a friend of yours," Stern allegedly told Mr Burkle at a meeting at the billionaire's Manhattan loft, according to a front page report in the Post's arch-rival, the Daily News. The News said it had obtained a transcript of the meeting, which was a sting operation set up by Mr Burkle in collaboration with the FBI. Stern allegedly said he was able to control which stories Richard Johnson, the column's lead writer, chose to run and outlined three levels of protection Mr Burkle could buy.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. I don't get it.

This is a billionaire. If the negative press were published, and it wasn't true, then he could sue for defamation and end up owning the New York Post. If the negative press were true, then he could potentially sue to invasion of privacy.

I know, I know, he still gets negative press. Perhaps he loses some business deals and doesn't get invited to the hot NYC parties that makes the social scene.

But c'mon! Where does the gossip columnist get off with threatening extortion? Elliot Spitzer could win the society vote if he prosecutes this case.

[No Exit]

2. Essentially, it's just plain old blackmail.

You're right about Burkle suing for defamation if they published harmful falsehoods about him. But if the negative press were true, this "invasion of privacy" stuff would probably not lead to a viable lawsuit--at least, not a lawsuit any sane lawyer would pursue.

Remember how Abramoff had paid some "journalist" to write favorable columns about him and his doings? This is apparently the reverse side, and I imagine this goes on more than we know.

That's what "journalism" has become in this country. Well, what could we expect, considering that the Bushistas and their republican forerunners have been creating, financing, and disseminating phony "journalism" for years now. Their avid efforts to turn journalism into propaganda have damaged the journalism profession by cheapening it beyond recognition. Everything the Bushistas touch seems to turn to shit. Bush is like a reverse King Midas.

[leftyladyfrommo]

3. This was all over the front page of the NYT this morning

I could care less. I wish they had used the space on the Bush leak instead of a gossip scandal.