MovieChat Forums > The Insider (1999) Discussion > So why didnt CBS get sued?

So why didnt CBS get sued?

posted 9 years ago by sackofwhine
5 replies | jump to latest

I didnt quite understand why CBS didnt get sued after all even though they aired the interview? And why didnt wigatd go to jail for breaking the contact? I thought that was part of the deal?

[–] catch_the_spindrift 8 years ago

Once Wigand testified in a court of law, the information became public record. That's why he went to a Mississippi court to testify. The information was then available for all to access. It was wide open.

I hope this helps.

Drifting through lost latitudes with no compass and no chart

[–] ric_boy 8 years ago

What about the "tortious interference" stuff?

[–] badcommand 8 years ago

What about the "tortious interference" stuff?

See above - once it was in the public domain, CBS was merely reporting it.

[–] Saltpeter 8 years ago

But if that's true, why didn't they realize it when it was first brought to their attention by the CBS legal advisor (Gina Gershon, lookin' mighty fine!)? After all, that information (capped by her assertion that the tobacco company would be able to "own CBS") is what made them decide not to air the interview.

So later, everyone changed their minds, and aired it. What happened to the threat that made them NOT want to air it in the first place? I thought this would be explained by the end, but if it was, I must have missed it. 

[–] Kajohns49 8 years ago

I think that the lawyers for CBS discovered that they COULD be subjected to a suit under that law about third party involvement in nondisclosure agreements. CBS corporate didn't want to chance running the interview because of the sale. The suit against CBS never happened, I think, because big tobacco had just had their butts handed to them in the Mississippi case and the whole thing was in the public eye so much. I wonder if it would've even made such a splash if CBS had just stuck to the original schedule. I remember the Mississippi case because of the huge dollar amounts, but the CBS affair made a much bigger impact because of the threat that Corporations could pose to freedom of the press.