The folks at DailyKos have pointed out an interesting situation surrounding Montel Williams and FOX's decision not to renew his talk show, “The Montel Williams Show”, which has been running for 17 years. The network's decision comes just four days after Williams basically read the hosts of FOX and Friends for their coverage of the HEath Ledger story. It looks like Williams was punished for pointing out how many troops had died in Iraq while network news obsessed over the death of Ledger.
Kos writes: “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.”
Watch the body language of the host on the far right as he slowly tenses up (sorry I don't know his name) as Montel's discussion goes on and on, and he's finally cut off.
Kos reports that Williams did not return after the break and Variety reported four days later that FOX stations “opted not to renew” his show.
Coincidence or not?
Montel Williams Loses Job after Defending Troops on Fox News [tr]
