Post by Erika on Aug 17, 2006 9:59:13 GMT -5
Seems like this network put their tv telethon to help Dustin to a 'Screeching' halt. 
www.westword.com/Issues/2006-08-17/news/offlimits.html
Diamond in the Rough
ManiaTV! brings its telethon to a Screeching halt.
Article Published Aug 17, 2006
Details
Who / What:
Dustin Diamond
There are A-list celebrities and Z-list celebrities -- but the alphabet would have to be expanded to properly categorize Dustin Diamond, who made his name in the late '80s and early '90s playing Samuel "Screech" Powers on the time-capsule-ready teen series Saved by the Bell, then pretty much disappeared. But Diamond won't be saved by ManiaTV!
On August 14, the has-been star was scheduled to personally helm a five-hour telethon from the two-year-old online network's Denver headquarters, with proceeds earmarked for his "Save My House" campaign; on his website, www.getdshirts.com, Diamond (who couldn't be reached for comment) says that his home in Wisconsin is facing foreclosure. Then, just ninety minutes before the telethon was scheduled to begin, Richard Ayoub, ManiaTV!'s vice president of programming, pulled the plug.
"We didn't want to take the risk," explains ManiaTV! spokesman Jason Damata. "We couldn't verify that his house is in foreclosure, and even if there are facts to substantiate that it is and he's really, honestly trying to save his house, he exhibited some really strange and obnoxious behavior."
As Damata tells it, in the week or two before the big day, Diamond seemed legitimately excited about the telethon, and eagerly accepted ManiaTV!'s offer to fly him to Denver along with a companion, Jennifer, whom he introduced as his manager and fiancée (in at least one article, she's referred to as his wife). But Diamond's tone was much more negative after he arrived in town, even though he was generating headlines for the first time in recent memory. (On August 10, USA Today and other newspapers reported that Diamond had gotten into a mini-brawl with a woman who he claimed had broken into his hotel room in Omaha and tried to swipe some of his video games.) Things deteriorated further on Monday, the morning of the telethon, when Diamond was slated to conduct more than a dozen interviews that ManiaTV! had arranged with radio stations around the country. While Diamond participated in the chats, the ManiaTV! rep who moderated the conversations told Damata that the Screecher didn't seem comfortable talking about the fundraiser or even the "Save My House" crusade, which he'd previously pimped on Howard Stern's show and elsewhere.
And afterward, Damata says, Diamond "acted like a complete jerk," which prompted Ayoub to pull Jennifer aside for a conversation -- and her comments made him wonder if the main thing in danger of foreclosure was ManiaTV!'s reputation. "We're really trying to develop trust," Damata notes, "and if we're perceived by our audience as being involved in something that was just a publicity stunt, it might be more hurtful than helpful."
Diamond and Jennifer were very upset when they learned that the telethon had been yanked, Damata continues, and they proceeded to run up a $700 bill at the Adam's Mark hotel on ManiaTV!'s tab. Meanwhile, ManiaTV! announced the programming change by placing a "CANCELLED" banner across Diamond's photo on its website, www.maniatv.com, and adding the phrase "Screech Sucks."
As if that were new information.
www.westword.com/Issues/2006-08-17/news/offlimits.html
Diamond in the Rough
ManiaTV! brings its telethon to a Screeching halt.
Article Published Aug 17, 2006
Details
Who / What:
Dustin Diamond
There are A-list celebrities and Z-list celebrities -- but the alphabet would have to be expanded to properly categorize Dustin Diamond, who made his name in the late '80s and early '90s playing Samuel "Screech" Powers on the time-capsule-ready teen series Saved by the Bell, then pretty much disappeared. But Diamond won't be saved by ManiaTV!
On August 14, the has-been star was scheduled to personally helm a five-hour telethon from the two-year-old online network's Denver headquarters, with proceeds earmarked for his "Save My House" campaign; on his website, www.getdshirts.com, Diamond (who couldn't be reached for comment) says that his home in Wisconsin is facing foreclosure. Then, just ninety minutes before the telethon was scheduled to begin, Richard Ayoub, ManiaTV!'s vice president of programming, pulled the plug.
"We didn't want to take the risk," explains ManiaTV! spokesman Jason Damata. "We couldn't verify that his house is in foreclosure, and even if there are facts to substantiate that it is and he's really, honestly trying to save his house, he exhibited some really strange and obnoxious behavior."
As Damata tells it, in the week or two before the big day, Diamond seemed legitimately excited about the telethon, and eagerly accepted ManiaTV!'s offer to fly him to Denver along with a companion, Jennifer, whom he introduced as his manager and fiancée (in at least one article, she's referred to as his wife). But Diamond's tone was much more negative after he arrived in town, even though he was generating headlines for the first time in recent memory. (On August 10, USA Today and other newspapers reported that Diamond had gotten into a mini-brawl with a woman who he claimed had broken into his hotel room in Omaha and tried to swipe some of his video games.) Things deteriorated further on Monday, the morning of the telethon, when Diamond was slated to conduct more than a dozen interviews that ManiaTV! had arranged with radio stations around the country. While Diamond participated in the chats, the ManiaTV! rep who moderated the conversations told Damata that the Screecher didn't seem comfortable talking about the fundraiser or even the "Save My House" crusade, which he'd previously pimped on Howard Stern's show and elsewhere.
And afterward, Damata says, Diamond "acted like a complete jerk," which prompted Ayoub to pull Jennifer aside for a conversation -- and her comments made him wonder if the main thing in danger of foreclosure was ManiaTV!'s reputation. "We're really trying to develop trust," Damata notes, "and if we're perceived by our audience as being involved in something that was just a publicity stunt, it might be more hurtful than helpful."
Diamond and Jennifer were very upset when they learned that the telethon had been yanked, Damata continues, and they proceeded to run up a $700 bill at the Adam's Mark hotel on ManiaTV!'s tab. Meanwhile, ManiaTV! announced the programming change by placing a "CANCELLED" banner across Diamond's photo on its website, www.maniatv.com, and adding the phrase "Screech Sucks."
As if that were new information.
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