The Blaze and its front man, Glenn Beck, have filed a counter-suit against conservative pundit Tomi Lahren after she sued the network for wrongful termination. Lahren’s lawsuit claims her show was permanently suspended because she expressed pro-choice views on The View, but according to the legal blog LawNewz, the Blaze says Lahren was benched because she violated her contract and mistreated staff.
The 35-page brief, which was filed in Dallas, Texas, on Monday, says the network decided to permanently suspend Lahren not for her pro-choice comments on The View, but because of a pattern of bad behavior, including being “inappropriate and unprofessional” and complaining about lighting, shooting, room temperature, and editing. It adds that her “word choices on air had to be addressed repeatedly for bordering on the profane.”
As for her View comments, the suit claims the Blaze didn’t take issue with their pro-choice content, but rather with the fact that “she made a statement that not only diverged dramatically from her previous public positions but also effectively called many of the Blaze’s employees, viewers, and readers hypocrites.” It also claims that her appearance on Nightline was full of “false statements.”
Lahren is technically still under contract (and being paid by) the Blaze, which earlier released a statement calling her lawsuit “puzzling, especially when we continue to comply fully with the terms of our agreement with her.” But Lahren’s lawyer has said she feels “like an eagle that [has] had its wings clipped.” In the game of lawsuits, there are no winners.
