The Radio Equalizer: Brian Maloney

30 June 2006

Janeane Garofalo, Sam Seder, Majority Report, Air America

JANEANE'S GARO-FALL

Acerbic Host, 'Majority Report' Saying Goodbye





*** Exclusive To The Radio Equalizer ***

Has Janeane Garofalo's liberal talk show been declared FUBAR by Air America Radio? With one source indicating (via hard copy information) that it may leave the airwaves as soon as tonight, it appears very likely that the self- loathing and acerbic talker / actress / Hollywood political hothead may already have done her last show.

If the hate- filled Garofalo remains in any capacity at the network, it will be as an occasional political correspondent, perhaps for phone-ins during election season, for example. But she may very well be ready to walk away for good.

In addition, the "Majority Report" show appears to have been cancelled, with co-host Sam Seder possibly heading into a temporary late- evening hosting role in many Air America markets outside of New York City.

Seder has been working as a fill-in host for the Randi Rhodes Show this week, while a local personality from San Diego has taken over the "Majority Report" in Sam's absence.

If Seder's new show can find adequate financing from political groups, it may remain beyond the end of July. In addition, some program staffers may be allowed to stick around during this period to see how that works out.

Behind the scenes, Air America Radio has debated whether even to let the press know Garofalo and the show had been cancelled, or to simply claim that she had taken on an "important new role" at the network.

Air America Radio has never answered Radio Equalizer requests for confirmation and we've long since given up trying.


A casualty of low ratings, extreme revenue shortfalls, weird on-air behavior and the network's overall poor health, Garofalo's downfall is especially embarrassing considering that as a quasi- Hollywood star, she was once considered a key Air America selling point.

And unlike the wildly overpaid, pampered Al Franken and Randi Rhodes, Garofalo was only mildly overcompensated, with a $250,000 annual salary. Co-host Seder made the same amount.

For an evening show, where potential revenues are much smaller than during the day, that's still a beefy payroll, however. In addition, there was also a substantial budget for writers and other staffers connected to the show.


Not only did Garofalo not make the Franken- like outrageous demands that have plagued the liberal network, for some time, she hasn't been on the payroll at all!

If anyone has been paying her, it isn't clear, but it's a certainty that Air America has provided no compensation since some point earlier this year. Why? We don't know, but in addition to documentation provided by a source on this point, Garofalo herself recently disclosed it on the air.

One theory: by choosing to work unpaid, Garofalo may have felt less obligated to appear daily, instead taking a great deal of time off. It's also possible that her salary was directly covered by a political organization or supporter, which is very similar to the way Air America is increasingly doing business.


The head of "I Hate Myself Productions", Garofalo had shown increasingly bizarre on-air behavior in recent months, with a habit of using airtime to plug extremist causes that even supporters found strange. In particular, the former "Larry Sanders Show" co-star was frequently plugging Scientology-related projects during the program.

For that, she attracted the attention of cult expert Rick Ross, who has chronicled Garofalo's recent on- air antics. Ross reported that Garofalo may have fallen under the spell of friend and Scientologist Leah Remini, the trashy "King Of Queens" co-star.

While Garofalo's political stunts may not have attracted quite as much negative attention as those of Randi Rhodes (who managed to get the Secret Service to look into her show), they were every bit as sophomoric.

Michelle Malkin, who has closely tracked Garofolo's unhinged behavior, wrote this in November:

Janeane Garofalo, left- wing actress- turned- Air America radio host, is a miserable woman. Last week before the holidays, she turned up on cable TV. No, not to count her blessings but to rant against conservative journalist Bob Novak, author Ann Coulter, and the Fox News Channel. She didn't have anything better to do for Thanksgiving?

Accessorized by a permanent scowl (hard to believe she was once considered a comedienne), Ms. Garofalo accused conservatives of having "an anger management problem. Without a trace of irony, the frowning Garofalo griped about "right-wing partisan hacks who are always on the verge of punching somebody or always behave as if they've just been cut off in traffic."


In addition, we discussed Garofalo's weird anti- Jonah Goldberg stunt a year ago. In another odd crusade, a petition was placed online to demand a Hollywood Walk Of Fame star for her.

Where might Janeane go from here? We won't pretend to know, but with all of this baggage, another shot at talk radio seems quite unlikely.

WELCOME National Review Online, RedState, USSNeverdock, Mark A Kilmer, GOPinion, Orbusmax, BitsBlog, Rightwingnews, Rathergate, Moonbat Monitor, Cabal Of Doom, Viking Pundit and TTLB readers!

For other stories, see our main page.

UPDATE: Based on posts found at the Majority Report's website, listeners seem to be under the impression Garofalo is on extended jury duty! Some aren't sure what to believe.

BREAKING: liberal Seattle talker allegedly assaults photographer in courtroom!

MONDAY UPDATE: No sign of Garofalo, while Seder seems to be settling into an ongoing fill-in role at Air America. What's left of "Majority Report", for now, is guest- hosted by a local host from KLSD-AM/ San Diego. Posters at the program's website seem to suspect that something is amiss.

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Garofalo For Dummies: David A Lunde, Janeane's Star: Pete at IHillary for the Radio Equalizer

11 Comments:

  • Hey, God-Awful-Ho:

    Don't let the door hit you on the way out--or maybe it should to knock some sense into your head! HA!

    By Blogger The Real Bob Anthony, at 30 June, 2006 07:22  

  • The enigma of Janeane Garofalo... a bitchy, unattractive, Hollywood actress who has made a fortune bitching about how unattractive actresses can't make money in Hollywood.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 30 June, 2006 07:51  

  • No, Air America isn't dead yet, but soooon, my little ones.....sooon.

    By Blogger Lokki, at 30 June, 2006 11:50  

  • Rightwingwhiner: While it's arguable whether or not Limbaugh or Hannity make conservatives seem brain dead--although putting Glen Beck in the same sentence with Michael Savage seems a little brain dead, to me--you must not listen to much right wing talk radio if you think they never take calls from the left. Some of the longest on air calls Rush has ever taken have been long conversations with liberals. To the point where many listeners were complaining (and even Rush's own staff) was complaining. Sean Hannity has also taken very long phone calls with liberals--I remember one when one liberal college student so confounded him that he ended up talking to her and her father, at separate times and the same time, and they were far lefties. If you wanna trash right wing talkers, sure, but Rush and Hannity take calls from the left all the time. BTW, I hate Hannity because half of his show is promo for what's coming up in next hour, and the last hour, and then on Hannity and Colmes. That each monologues is a laundry list of what he's going to be talking about later irritates the heck out of me. I enjoy Rush, although I'm not a big fan of the fifteen minute phone calls with whacky lefties, myself. In fact, I'm not a big fan of most of the phone calls. He could just monologue for three hours, and I'd be fine with that. Oddly, I never turn into a talkshow to listen to the callers.

    By Blogger kevinwillis.net, at 30 June, 2006 12:07  

  • There is no possible way this could be accurate. Given that you have been always been proven 100% correct in your stories about Air America, then certainly this is not true because everyone is wrong once in a while.

    (Above is a accurate portrayal of liberal logic)

    By Blogger Brian, at 30 June, 2006 13:31  

  • speaking of Prog. Talk. From All Access via Radio-Info news/talk board: "Sports Format Moving To 1530 AM In Cincinnati

    "CLEAR CHANNEL will move Sports WSAI-A (1360HOMER, THE SPORTS ANIMAL)/CINCINNATI to the more powerful 1530 AM frequency now occupied by liberal Talk WCKY-A on JULY 7. The company's release on the move, issued after business hours THURSDAY, does not indicate the fate of the (progressive talk) format presently on 1530."

    By Blogger raccoonradio, at 30 June, 2006 13:42  

  • update on Cincy progtalk situation: Radio And Records says there will be a format swap--so while the libtalk won't be gone, it'll just be on a weaker signal.

    RADIO AND RECORDS:
    "Clear Channel/Cincinnati's WSAI (1360Homer, The Sports Animal) on July 7 will swap dial positions with liberal Talk clustermate WCKY, a move that puts "Homer" on a booming signal audible throughout much of the East Coast after sundown.

    "Moving Homer to 1530AM will enable us to broadcast The Sports Animal at 50,000 watts," said CC/Cincinnati Director/AM Operations Darryl Parks. "Increasing the station's reach gives us the opportunity to better serve the huge demand for Sports radio in the region."

    By Blogger raccoonradio, at 30 June, 2006 13:59  

  • Say "leahlips", I love your show King of Comedy. I don't care if you are a scientologist. Aliens coming from space is no different than fluffy clouds and angels, as far as I am concerned.

    By Blogger @whut, at 01 July, 2006 01:25  

  • >>Did the article go on to say, "We wanted to move libradio and see if anyone noticed"?

    No, it didn't...and the press releases issued after hours on Thu. didn't mention the fate of the libtalk, though it was found out that it's just switching to the weaker station. Maybe people will notice come next week when people dial-flipping will hear something interesting on 1530...for a change...

    By Blogger raccoonradio, at 01 July, 2006 08:50  

  • I found it extremely amusing that Michelle Malkin, of all people, wrote a rant here about the angry Janeane Garofalo. Malkin has got to be one of the most hate-infected talking heads on Fox. I've never seen anyone quite so vitriolic. And the big difference between her and Garofalo is that Malkin pretends to be a journalist, while Garofalo never made any such specious claim. Oh, the irony is rich!

    By Blogger Natasha Bauman, at 11 November, 2006 17:20  

  • I'd pay good money to see Michelle Malkin and Janeane Garofalo debate

    By Blogger PunditFight, at 19 April, 2009 07:55  

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