Lahren settles with Beck and TheBlaze
CONSERVATIVE provocateur and talk show host Tomi Lahren has settled a wrongful termination lawsuit against Glenn Beck, her former employer, and his media network, TheBlaze.
Lahren claimed she was ousted from the network because she spoke out in favour of abortion rights during an appearance on ABC’s The View. Beck and TheBlaze later countersued, alleging her show, Tomi, was pulled from the air because she had a long track record of insubordination.
On Monday, Lahren, 24, and TheBlaze said they had resolved the dispute. Under the settlement, Lahren will be released from her employment contract, as the Dallas Morning News reported.
She will be able to keep the 4.3 million-follower Facebook page TheBlaze created for her, but she must remove videos she made as an employee of the network. Other details of the agreement weren’t disclosed.
“Ms Lahren is relieved to have this litigation behind her,” Lahren’s lawyer, Brian Lauten, told the Morning News.
“She looks forward to connecting with her audience and fan base on the pressing political issues facing our country in the days to come.”
TheBlaze, known for its right-leaning news and commentary, said in a statement it was “pleased to announce that the relationship with Tomi Lahren has concluded”.
“Ms Lahren will continue to have access to her social media accounts, as has always been the case,” it stated.
After joining TheBlaze in 2015, Lahren became known for the fastpaced and often inflammatory monologues she would deliver at the end of her nightly show, often ridiculing liberals and left-wing movements.
Called “Final Thoughts”, the three-minute rants propelled Lahren into conservative stardom, landing her appearances on The Daily Show and Real Time with Bill Maher.
In March, Lahren shocked some of her fans when she told ABC’s The View that it would be hypocritical for her to believe the government should interfere with a woman’s right to an abortion.
“You know what?” Lahren said. “I’m for limited government, so stay out of my guns, and you can stay out of my body as well.”
After the comments prompted backlash from conservative commentators, including Beck himself, TheBlaze suspended Lahren indefinitely.
Later, she was allegedly told her employment was terminated and her show was cancelled but that the network would keep her on the payroll until her contract expired.
In response, Beck said on his radio show he pulled Lahren because she hadn’t done enough to justify her position, and because she had insulted conservatives by using the word “hypocrite”.
“The ideas are what are important,” Beck said.
“And if you cannot defend the idea – no matter which side you’re on – if you can’t defend the idea, that leads to the second part of the discussion, which is the people calling for Tomi to be fired.”
Lahren claimed the response was retaliatory. In her lawsuit, filed in Dallas County court, she said TheBlaze “embarked on a public smear campaign”, attacking her and “chastising her political views and opinions in a clear attempt to embarrass, humiliate, and undermine” her brand. She said the network blocked access to her Facebook page.
A week later, Beck and TheBlaze fired back in a counter-suit, alleging Lahren was suspended not because of her abortion remarks but because of her temperament.
The counter-suit said she clashed with co-workers, used borderline-profane language on the air and frequently complained about the network in public.
Her comments on The View, the suit said, “were simply the latest in a series of events” that made TheBlaze decide not to keep her on board. The network denied ever having fired her, saying it intended to keep paying her until her contract ended.