Hannity angers Fox News management by charging Tea Party demonstrators to attend show taping

[Kadie]

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Sean Hannity angers Fox News management by charging Tea Party demonstrators to attend show taping

Fri Apr 16, 2:43 pm ET

Popular Fox News host Sean Hannity is reportedly in the doghouse with executives at the conservative-leaning cable network for charging admission to attend a scheduled taping of his show from a Tea Party rally at the University of Cincinnati yesterday — with the proceeds going to the rally's organizers. Fox honchos were reportedly so angry when they learned of the arrangement that they pulled the plug on the event and ordered Hannity to return to the network's headquarters to tape the show at his studio there. (Nor was that taping without controversy, as one of Hannity's guests, Col. Oliver North, who was convicted on three felony charges for his role in the 1980s Iran-Contra scandal, described President Obama's governing philosophy as "anti-American." )

Promoters of the Cincinnati event had pegged Hannity as its headliner, according to Matea Gold in the Los Angeles Times. The rally also featured other prominent conservatives and was expected to draw up to 13,000 people. Participants were to be charged a minimum of $5, with seats closer to the stage going for $20.

Senior Fox News executives said they were not aware Hannity was being billed as the main attraction of the event or that Tea Party organizers were charging for admission to Hannity's show as part of the rally. They first learned of it Thursday morning from John Finley, Hannity's executive producer, who was in Cincinnati to produce Hannity's show. Bill Shine, Fox News' executive vice president of programming, said that the network "never agreed to allow the Cincinnati Tea Party organizers to use Sean Hannity's television program to profit from broadcasting his show." He added, "When senior executives in New York were made aware of this, we changed our plans for tonight's show." In Gold's account, network executives were "furious" with the right-wing cable talker.

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