In less than a few months, Tomi Lahren went from hosting something called the Snowflake Awards to being banned permanently from Glenn Beck’s media empire after she (shockingly) articulated her new-ish pro-choice stance on The View. Lahren sounded truly puzzled that she was fired for expressing her opinion and soon sued for wrongful termination. Now, Lahren has filed legal papers that mysteriously accuse Beck of “misconduct, which should be exposed for what it is.”
What on earth does this mean? There aren’t many clues, but Lahren’s lawyers are due to appear in the coming days, so perhaps we’ll hear some concrete allegations. Last week, an emotional Lahren appeared on Nightline to ask Beck to end her contract, which doesn’t expire until September. The Dallas Morning News reports that the new filing specifically accuses TheBlaze of seizing Lahren’s Facebook page, and she has threatened to sue for damages (for being “irreparably harmed”) if the court won’t return the account to her:
TheBlaze has taken control of Lahren’s Facebook page, where she has 4.2 million followers, and refuses to give her access to it, her suit alleges.
Lahren’s “Facebook page is her personal page,” the new filing says, and Lahren never provided her “extremely valuable ownership and property rights in either her name or likeness to anyone including” TheBlaze and Glenn Beck.
While it seems odd that TheBlaze would have control over the page if it really belonged to Lahren on a personal basis, both sides are spouting some puzzling rhetoric. All along, Beck’s people have been issuing catty statements whenever Lahren speaks out. Last week, TheBlaze told Page Six, “It’s official: We are now as confused as Tomi seems to be. It’s not every day that a current employee sues for being fired, but then gives an interview asking to be fired.”
This obviously presents a dilemma. Lahren’s still on TheBlaze payroll even though her show has been pulled, but that may merely be a mechanism to avoid legal repercussions. Will Beck finally set Lahren free? If he doesn’t, she may keep saying that mysterious word: “Misconduct.”
UPDATE – 5:20pm: Deadline is reporting that Beck and TheBlaze have countersued Lahren and characterized her in legal papers as “inappropriate and unprofessional.” The 21-page injunction request also claims that Lahren’s remarks on The View were the last straw:
“Her comments on The View (which demonstrated a apparent flip-flop from opinions she had previously expressed) were simply the latest in a series of events that led The Blaze management to conclude that The Blaze did not intend to extend her contract beyond the end of its term in September 2017.”
The filing also reiterates TheBlaze management’s previous statement of not knowing why Lahren has sued for wrongful termination when she’s still being paid under her existing contract.
(Via Dallas Morning News & Page Six)