Former KRLD Sports Analyst Sues Gawker Media

RADIO ONLINE | , , | :am CT

Former ESPN analyst and Dallas sports radio personality Sean Salisbury has filed a civil lawsuit in Denton County, TX, against a sports blog for allegedly causing him to lose both of his jobs as well as damaging his reputation, reports the McKinney Courier-Gazette. He filed the defamation suit against Gawker Media for publishing "several false stories" on their sports blog Deadspin.com.

Salisbury's attorney, Jeffrey Tillotson, said in the petition that Deadspin has waged a "long-running smear campaign" against his client since January of 2007. The blog first alleged in January, 2007 that ESPN suspended Salisbury for taking indecent photos of himself with his cell phone and showing it to several female co-workers.

Tillotson said Deadspin continued to post the alleged innicent on four separate occasions including in posts on September 11 following Salisbury's departure from CBS Radio's KRLD-FM (105.3 FM The Fan)/Dallas. Even so, the blog also provided a link to a Dallas Observer blog, Richie Whitt's Sportatorium, that said in an "update" post regarding Salisbury's departure that "sexting wasn't involved."

"Unburdened by the truth or any pretense of journalistic standards, Deadspin ignored the facts and instead repeated the malicious lie that Mr. Salisbury 'allegedly' engaged in 'sexting,' which prompting his firing," the suit read. "In the weeks since Mr. Salisbury's departure from The Fan, Deadspin has continued to taunt Mr. Salisbury in emails from Deadspin contributors and has even mockingly asked Mr. Salisbury why he has not filed suit. Deadspin now has its answer."

Todd Harlow, a member of Salisbury's counsel on the civil lawsuit, said a memo from CBS, The Fan's parent company, stated Salisbury left the radio outlet as part of a "mutual agreement" that contained "no allegations of impropriety."