Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
In one of those "life is weird" moments, United States President Donald Trump has nominated L. Brent Bozell III to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media, the agency that oversees U.S. broadcast entities like Voice of America and Radio Free Europe. Bozell was tapped because of his history and attachment to conversative media causes.
If that name sounds familiar, it is because one of those causes, The Parent Teacher Council, was founded by Bozell. The organization went on the attack against WWE programming in the early 2000s, going after advertisers in an attempt to make them leave Smackdown, then airing on the UPN Network. The PTC claimed that WWE programming was responsible for the deaths of children, among other allegations.
WWE responded by parodying the group with the Stevie Richards-led Right to Censor (RTC) before filing a lawsuit against the PTC, one that was partially backed with a series of facts about WWE programming that Mick Foley himself referenced and wrote about in a sizable portion of one of his memoirs. In the book, Foley recounted a story of calling the PTC to request sourcing on some of the facts they were publicly using to attack WWE, only to have a wrestling fan answer the PTC's phone, get excited that Mankind was on the phone with him, but then ordered to hang up on Foley.
The PTC attempted to have WWE's lawsuit thrown out of court but failed, leading to the issue being ordered to trial.
Instead, the PTC settled for $3.5 million with Bozell forced to issue a lengthy public apology to both WWE and Vince McMahon.
WWE issued the following press release in 2002, which included Bozell's public apology:
World Wrestling Entertainment Settles Lawsuit With Parents Television Council; PTC Founder Brent Bozell Issues Apology
STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 8, 2002--World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:WWE) today announced it has successfully settled its lawsuit against the Parents Television Council (PTC), L. Brent Bozell III, Media Research Center (MRC), and others.
As a result, WWE will receive $3.5 million and a series of non-monetary considerations, including a personal letter of apology from Mr. Bozell (see the posting at the PTC website, www.parentstv.org, and at wwe.com or corporate.wwe.com).
The lawsuit centered on various statements made by PTC and its representatives linking the deaths of four children to the WWE SmackDown! television program and on statements claiming that certain advertisers had stopped advertising on SmackDown.
In his letter of apology, Mr. Bozell acknowledged that the PTC's concerns with the content of WWE'S programming has been reduced significantly over the past years, and went on to admit that it was not fair to WWE to have passed on to advertisers accusations about children's deaths which were false. In addition, as part of the settlement agreement, Mr. Bozell has offered to meet with certain specific advertisers with whom he or members of his organizations met with or sent letters to regarding WWE to personally explain the basis of his letter of apology.
"We have always maintained that certain statements made about us by the PTC went beyond fair comment or criticism, and were false, defamatory, and very unfair," said Linda McMahon, WWE CEO. "We feel vindicated by this settlement."
PTC LETTER OF APOLOGY
Media Research Center (MRC), Parents Television Council (PTC), Dr. Delores Tucker, Mark Honig and I have in the past made statements regarding so-called wrestling deaths--children killed by other children alleged to be mimicking "professional wrestling" moves they saw on television. We made such statements to members of MRC and PTC, the media, advertisers on World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Smackdown! program, retailers that sell WWE-related toys and merchandise, public officials and the public. MRC and PTC also produced a videotape as part of a fundraising campaign in connection with its "National Campaign to Clean Up TV Now!", which advanced the notion that the murder of Tiffany Eunick was caused by the influence of professional wrestling on Lionel Tate. The videotape included interviews with Lionel Tate's lawyer advancing the notion that the murder of Tiffany Eunick, the victim, was directly caused by the impact that professional wrestling had on Lionel Tate.
We based our statements on media reports and source information. We now believe, based on extensive investigation and facts which have come to light since making those statements, that it was wrong for MRC, PTC, their spokespersons and myself to have said anything that could be construed as blaming WWE or any of its programs for the deaths of the children. Simply put, it was premature to reach that conclusion when we did, and there is now ample evidence to show that conclusion was incorrect. I now believe that professional wrestling played no role in the murder of Tiffany Eunick, which was a part of our "Clean Up TV Now!" campaign, and am equally convinced that it was incorrect and wrong to have blamed WWE or any of its programs for the deaths of the other children.
Because of our statements, PTC, MRC and the WWE have been in litigation since November 2000. WWE vigorously advanced its position that neither it, nor "professional wrestling" lead to these deaths. WWE also contended that MRC, PTC, their spokespersons and I had misrepresented the number of advertisers who withdrew support from WWE's Smackdown! television program after receiving communications from the PTC, some of which regrettably connected the WWE and Smackdown! to the deaths of children. As such, WWE exercised its right to initiate this litigation, during which facts came to light that prompted me to make this statement.
By this retraction, I want to be clear that WWE was correct in pointing out that various statements made by MRC, PTC and me were inaccurate concerning the identity and number of WWE Smackdown! advertisers who withdrew support from the program. Many of the companies we stated had "withdrawn" or pulled their support had never, in fact, advertised on Smackdown! nor had any plan to advertise on Smackdown! Again, we regret this error and retract any such misleading statements.
Finally, concerning the statements about child wrestling deaths, it was wrong to have stated or implied that WWE or any of its programs caused these tragic deaths. Specifically concerning the Lionel Tate case, recent developments lead us to believe that others and we were given, and relied upon, false information provided by parties close to the case. The information that we were given and relied upon may have been designed to make a national example of the Florida murder trial, pinning the blame on WWE. For example, we were told by a source that Lionel Tate was watching a WWE program when he assaulted Tiffany Eunick. In fact, Lionel Tate was watching the "Flintstones" and a cartoon entitled "Cow and Chicken." We were also told, by a source, that Lionel Tate killed Tiffany Eunick while executing a wrestling move unique to a WWE character called the "Stone Cold Stunner." We have since learned that this was not true, nor was there any evidence that it was true.
It is now well documented that after the Tate trial concluded, the presiding Judge said that it was "inconceivable" that Tiffany Eunick's injuries were caused by Lionel Tate mimicking wrestling moves. Indeed, since the trial ended, Lionel Tate's new lawyers have filed court papers in which they admit that the "wrestling defense" was, in their words, "bogus." Given these facts, WWE was within its rights to be angry at the MRC, PTC, their spokespersons and I for contacting WWE's advertisers to go beyond complaining about WWE content but passing along accusations which we now know were false. Because I feel a simple retraction is not sufficient, I have personally extended my apology to Vince McMahon and the WWE on behalf of MRC, PTC, Dr. Tucker, Mr. Honig and me. Through this letter, I now make this apology public and specifically directed to the advertising community that has in the past, is currently or may in the future consider advertising or sponsoring WWE programming.
The PTC can have its concern with the content of WWE's television programming - though these concerns have been reduced significantly over the past years as a reflection of WWE's changed standards. But nowhere in that debate, including in the correspondence and statements to the advertising community, should there have been any discussion of "wrestling" deaths. I regret this happening, it wasn't fair to WWE. And I say this emphatically: Please disregard what others and we have said in the past about the Florida "wrestling" death. Neither "wrestling" in general, nor WWE specifically, had anything to do with it. Of that I am certain.
Sincerely,
L. Brent Bozell, III
cc: Vince and Linda McMahon
***
Bozell exited the PTC in 2006 and has since headed up other watchdog groups.
His son was among those had been sentenced for crimes during the 1/6/20 Capital Building incident in Washington, DC but pardoned by Trump this week.
If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
Bang On Casino
