Air America Radio Hires Montel Williams

IN JERRY'S FOOTSTEPS

TV Talker / Huckster Montel Williams Hired By Air America







Apparently hoping to succeed where Jerry Springer failed, fellow TV trashmeister / celebrity huckster Montel Williams is giving liberal talk radio a try. And despite his lack of experience in the medium, Air America Radio has jumped at the chance to give him a show.

Called Montel Across America, the new program will debut in April. Williams (shown below with wife), however, has a questionable past. Read on to see why he's a curious choice for this role.

First, from the liberal radio network's press release:

Meet Air America's newest addition, Emmy award-winning host Montel Williams! His new Air America program is called “Montel Across America,” and it debuts April 6 airing weekdays from 9am-12pm EST on radio stations across the country. It will also be streamed live online at www.airamerica.com.

“Montel is a multi-media star and a familiar name to millions of people across the country,” said Bennett Zier, chief executive officer of Air America Media. “The addition of Montel to our talent line-up is an important step for the continued growth of Air America, as we look to distribute Montel’s show across America.”

“We’re extremely pleased to be able to add such a talented, passionate voice to our programming line-up,” added Bill Hess, senior vice president of programming for Air America Media. “This program will give Montel an outlet to do what he does best--reach people with his probing questions and insatiable quest for knowledge.”

“After being on television for more than 17 years, I’m looking forward to engaging in lively conversations and interacting with the American public,” said Williams. “Air America is providing me with the perfect environment to do this every day from New York City, as well as reporting from cities around the world as a travelling correspondent.”

Williams was the Emmy award-winning host and executive producer of “The Montel Williams Show” for 17 years, one of the longest running daytime talk shows in the history of television. In addition to his talk show and several acting appearance on hit television programs, Williams is an accomplished author, having published eight books with four New York Times best-sellers.

How did Montel gain street cred with the lefty set? It appears to have originated with a widely-disseminated conspiracy theory that his sleazy TV trashfest was cancelled as a result of a political rant delivered during a Fox and Friends appearance just over a year ago. From the DailyKos smear site, January 2008:

For just over three minutes on Saturday morning, TV talk show host Montel Williams owned the hosts of Fox and Friends. A former Marine and Naval officer, Montel lectured the stunned hosts on the stupidity of spending air time on the death of Heath Ledger, rather than covering the war in Iraq. It was a spectacle rarely seen on live cable television, as Montel exposed and condemned both tabloid "news" shows and much of American culture for what they have each become: shallow and greedy.

Three minutes into this awkward segment on Fox, one host cut off Montel in order to go to a commercial. Montel did not return after the break. Four days later, after 17 years as a television host, Montel lost his job.

Though there are many references to this on the left side of the Internet, no direct link between Montel's appearance and his TV show's cancellation was ever established. It was simply accepted as fact without backing documentation.



At the same time, other past controversies make Montel a strange choice for Air America or any other radio network. In a frightening 2007 incident, for example, Williams seemed to threaten a female high school student, according to the AP:

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) _ Talk show host Montel Williams has apologized for an angry confrontation with reporters who claimed he threatened them.

Williams was in Savannah to promote a program giving free prescriptions to low-income people.

He apparently became upset with a reporter's question Friday and terminated an interview.

When the Savannah Morning News reporters later returned to the hotel for an unrelated assignment, he approached one of them -- high school student Courtney Scott, an intern at the newspaper.

Joseph Cosey, a web content producer for the paper, says Williams approached Scott and said ``'Don't look at me like that. Do you know who I am? I'm a big star, and I can look you up, find where you live and blow you up,'''

Scott says she wasn't sure how to interpret Williams' comment, saying ``I'm not sure if he meant 'blow me up' and ruin my career or really blow us up, but it was threatening.''

Williams, a patient advocate since being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, later issued a statement apologizing for the outburst.

And more recently, Williams has come under fire for touting phony "Obama Presidential Commemorative Coins" that consisted of flimsy stickers affixed to quarters:

This particular Obama coin set sells for $19.95 plus shipping and handling. What is most upsetting, is that these coins are nothing more than regular American coins with Obama stickers applied to them. In true fact, consumers who fall for this deal will receive $2 worth of legal tender coins with stickers applied to them. Nowhere in the offer is that fact revealed.

In terms of Montel's dodgy past, we haven't even scratched the surface: there are probably many lowlights that could be dug up from his 17 years as a trash TV host (those DNA paternity test episodes as an example). If the left really views Montel Williams as their next big voice, they can have him.


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