TV Station Falls For Pranksters; Sues Them For Fraud

Too Much Free Time

from the oh...-so-you-want-your-dumbassery-to-be-part-of-the-public-record? dept

Playing pranks on local newscasters is a proud tradition that dates back to the days when people actually watched local newscasts for news. All it takes is willing pranksters, segment producers looking for filler, and staffers unwilling to perform even the most basic due diligence.

Enter Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher, most famous for buying up flea market VHS recordings and dubbing comedic commentary over the top of them. Their current catalog covers everything from retailer-produced sexual harassment videos to jazzercise to a variety of self-appointed experts opining on subject matter in which they clearly have no expertise.

Prueher and Pickett also developed a few alter egos and sent out press releases to a number of local TV stations, hoping to have them booked. WEAU in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, fell for one these press releases and invited strongmen “Chop & Steele” to perform on its morning show, “Hello Wisconsin.” The two comedians showed up in full “Chop & Steele” garb and wowed newscasters by crushing baskets with their feet and breaking sticks with their bare hands.

WEAU wasn’t the only victim of “Chop & Steele” and other Prueher/Pickett alter egos. But WEAU — through its parent company, Gray Television — is the only one to make a federal case out of it.

Gray Television filed a lawsuit against the pair, alleging fraud, conspiracy, and copyright infringement. Pickett and Prueher — now represented by attorney Anderson Duff — were first notified of the lawsuit by a New York Post article. At this point, the lawsuit is still waiting for a judge to take a look at it, but hopefully it will be tossed out shortly after this. Just in case it isn’t, the duo have set up a crowdfunding campaign for legal fees. (h/t Daniel Nazer)

The lawsuit [PDF] from Gray Television is inadvertently hilarious. Considering its arguments about being “defrauded” by pranksters its staff would have sniffed out by performing a little pre-show fact-checking, it’s pretty rich for Gray to make the following claims:

Gray Television owns television station WEAU in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

For more than sixty years, WEAU has served as the trusted and respected news source in Western Wisconsin.

[…]

As part of its continuing commitment to bringing accurate information to its viewers and remaining an industry leader, in 1979 WEAU became the first television station in the market to have its own Doppler weather radar.

Trust and respect are earned. They can also be lost. When you don’t vet your morning show guests, guess what happens. The fraud and conspiracy allegations in the lawsuit attempt to bridge the statutory gap that cruelly leaves butthurt unremedied. The complaint begins with Gray admitting the station did fuck-all to verify the claims made in Chop & Steele’s press release.

The press release identified Joe Picket by the fake name “Joe ‘Chop’ Shopsin” and Nick Prueher by the fake name “Nicholas ‘Steele’ Stelling.” It stated that the duo would perform “a series of free live events in Black River Falls, LaCrosse, Eau Claire, and Winona the week of November 28, using their muscles to entertain and educate” on unity, inner strength, and ways to prevent bullying “through humor, courage and self-respect.” The press release further claimed that “Chop & Steele” were “fan favorites from season three of America’s Got Talent,” and were also featured on Steve Harvey, the Hallmark Channel’s Marie, and Disneyland’s 60th Anniversary Celebration.

The information in the press release was entirely false. Prueher and Pickett were not on a “Give Thanks 4 Strengths” tour. They did not have any events scheduled in Wisconsin or elsewhere. They had not appeared on America’s Got Talent, Steve Harvey, the Hallmark Chanel or in Disneyland.

Believing the information provided in the email and press release, a WEAU anchor enthusiastically responded the same day to “Jerry Chubb” stating that “Hello Wisconsin would LOVE to have Chop and Steele” on the program and asked for more details to prepare for their interview and demonstration.

Based on its own failures, WEAU was duped. Rather than accept this and move on, Gray Television is trying to portray it as fraud. The problem is, none of it really satisfies the statutory requirements for fraud. While the statements made in the press release were demonstrably false, the duo’s appearance on the show didn’t deprive the station of anything other than its production costs for that segment, if even that. If viewers watched the entire segment — along with any advertising — it’s hard to believe the station lost anything.

On top of that, its assertions about the station’s long-running trustworthiness make it clear the two comedians didn’t intentionally exploit WEAU because it was inherently exploitable, as explained by The Legal Dictionary:

Reliance on a patently absurd false statement generally will not give rise to fraud; however, people who are especially gullible, superstitious, or ignorant or who are illiterate may recover damages for fraud if the defendant knew and took advantage of their condition.

A TV morning show with decades of asserted trustworthiness does not fit this description. Perhaps this is why Gray Television’s complaint offers nothing more than boilerplate allegations of loss.

As a direct result of Defendants’ fraudulent conduct set forth herein, Gray Television has been damaged and is entitled to recover compensatory damages in an amount which shall be proved at trial.

But “damaged” how? If the segment was watched and the station didn’t lose viewers after the fact, there’s not much there to work with. The complaint makes no mention of other possible damages — like decreased guest/ad bookings or even a vaguer “reputational damage.” It appears to believe it should get paid because its lax fact-checking processes resulted in it being embarrassed.

Gray Television also alleges copyright infringement because the duo used clips of the morning show to promote their Found Footage Film Festival. This appears to have been thrown into the lawsuit just in case the judge has no sympathy for WEAU being a victim of its own carelessness. Again, the use of the clips — even in promotional videos — is likely fair use, as it’s part of a much longer clip showing the range of the comedians’ artistic endeavors.

Whichever angle you take, the lawsuit is ridiculous. Chances are the station would have been fine with use of the clips if it didn’t make it look like the morning show was more interested in filling open segments than providing quality broadcasting. The copyright infringement allegation might be the strongest, but that doesn’t mean it’s the “rightest.” It just means our copyright laws are so screwed up, pranksters can still be sued for using a brief clip of a morning show appearance on their own website or YouTube channel.

Filed Under: chop & steele, joe pickett, nick prueher, pranks
Companies: gray television, weau