McDaniel eyes big payout after NBC drama ($600,000 and more for doing nothing)

[dalton99a]

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/27/ronna-mcdaniel-nbc-contract-00149274

McDaniel eyes big payout after NBC drama
The former RNC chair is in talks with a prominent media talent lawyer about potential legal claims.
By Rachael Bade
03/27/2024 08:27 AM EDT

Will it be the $600,000 interview?

The ramifications of NBC’s decision yesterday to part ways with former RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel just two days after her paid network debut on “Meet the Press” are just starting to shake out. But they could be expensive.

McDaniel expects to be fully paid out for her contract — two years at $300,000 annually — since she did not breach its terms, according to a person close to McDaniel. That means that her single, not-quite-20-minute interview Sunday could cost NBC more than $30,000 per minute, or $500 per second.

That might be just the beginning of the fallout following yesterday’s announcement from NBCUniversal News Group Chair Cesar Conde that the deal, first announced on Friday, would be canceled. McDaniel spoke yesterday with Bryan Freedman, renowned lawyer to the estranged cable-news stars, to discuss legal options even beyond recouping the dollar value of her contract.

While no arrangement is final, the person close to McDaniel said, Freedman would be an obvious choice: He represented Megyn Kelly in her own acrimonious parting with NBC, as well as ousted anchors Chris Cuomo, Don Lemon and Tucker Carlson in disputes with their respective former networks.

...

[DFW]

1. What a ripoff

I would have joined NBC, done nothing for a week, and then left for less than $500,000...................

**on edit--come to think of it, I still would! Any NBC execs reading this--PM me ASAP! My offer is still good.

[Escurumbele]

18. I said it yesterday in another post, I knew it would happen. This is the problem with so many people, they lack

a sense of consequences, they come up with an idea but fail to think about the pros and cons, they just jump on it excited that they finally came up with an idea, consequences be dammed.

THINK BEFORE YOU ACT

Some executive heads should roll. What a gig for her, do nothing and get $600,000.00. She should apply now to CNA, maybe she can get enough to make a million in one month.

In a way, I am very happy this happened because maybe, maybe, these jackasses who want to cater to republicans by making stupid decisions may stop.

[DFW]

39. If it costs the network $600K every time

I hope it comes out of the money set aside for the executive pay pool. THAT should give them a rock solid reason to avoid stupid moves like this one. Six hundred grand is one hell of an expensive “oops,” and the stockholders should NOT be forced to foot the bill.

[Upthevibe]

59. Whomever was responsible for the decision

of hiring her should be fired. I would think that more than one person would have to have given their stamp of approval and I seriously believe they should all lose their jobs.

This shows such a horrible lack of judgement. It's inexcusable.

[Goodheart]

2. I despise her, but she's entitled to it.

[Think. Again.]

5. Probably not...

...I suspect NBC's legal team wrote a pretty safe contract.

[former9thward]

6. She will win.

She had lawyers also.

[NanaCat]

16. Nobody's lawyers get around the morality clauses

And there would have been no contract if she didn't agree not to embarrass the network with bad behaviour--past or present.

[Escurumbele]

19. Past? Maybe present and future, she was already an embarrassment due to past behaviour.

[former9thward]

26. No, not how it works.

NBC knew who they were hiring. Morality clauses are for conduct after a contract is signed. Are you really saying NBC had no idea who she was but you do? They will settle the case not only for the contract but several million dollars additional. Real world.

[SunSeeker]

63. Her baseless claim, on her 1st day on air, that the 2020 election had "problems," was alone grounds for firing her.

She used her new NBC platform to push a dangerous election lie.

Dan Rather got fired for a lot less. Dan Rather left the anchor desk in 2005 following the Killian documents controversy, in which he presented unauthenticated documents in a news report on President George W. Bush's Vietnam War–era service in the National Guard. He continued to work with CBS until 2006, when he was abruptly fired. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/dan-rather-cbs-news-corporate-media_n_1531121

In September 2007, Rather filed a $70 million lawsuit against CBS and its former parent company Viacom. Rather accused the network and its ownership and management of making him a "scapegoat" in the Killian story. An intermediate New York state appeals court dismissed the lawsuit in September 2009, and the New York Court of Appeals refused to reinstate it in January 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20091002082508/http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090929/tv_nm/us_rather_cbs_1

I imagine Ronna's lawsuit would meet the same fate, unless NBC has really shitty lawyers.

Real world indeed.

[former9thward]

69. We will find out.

Of course you can always use the old "NBC has shitty lawyers" as your go to answer.

[AkFemDem]

55. She's a public figure, the network can't claim

Ignorance about her behavior and pull a morals clause after the fact. They're going to pay out.

[agingdem]

13. I agree...

I think NBC will offer her $300,000 (her contract) to settle and if she says no they will take her to court, file a countersuit with endless motions (a la Trump) and drag it out for years..in the meantime McDaniel will be piling up ridiculous legal bills and court costs, more than her contract and more than than she's asking...NBC is a multi-billion dollar company..NBC has the time and the money to wait her out whereas McDaniel is on her own...

[former9thward]

28. No, NBC will settle.

And she will have plenty of lawyers to help her since ultimately NBC will be paying her legal costs when they settle.

[ProfessorGAC]

37. I Think So Too

Going to court continues to keel a corporate embarrassment in the spotlight.
That's bad for business.
Comcast is a >$120 billion company. This 600k is 5 bucks out of every million in revenue. They'll find the money in the couch cushions of the executive suites.
They'll think it best to just put it in the past as quickly as possible.

[agingdem]

40. unless they keep her on for the length of her contract...

pay her for doing nothing an then say kiss her off...

I would like to hear her lawyer argue NBC damaged her reputation..I need a laugh

[former9thward]

41. I don't think the reputation will go far.

Although the world of NBC and her is not the world of DU. But NBC employees intentionally interfering with her contract is a tort and will go far. Beyond the four corners of her contract.

[NonPC]

42. Doesn't "Un-Indicted Co-Conspirator #2" Count?

Seems like that might be a way out of the contract...

[former9thward]

44. If you know something about indicted co-conspirator #2

then I bet NBC News also did before they signed the contract. But they signed it anyway. Once you sign it, they can't put the spilled milk back in the glass.

[agingdem]

52. I can't help but delight in NBC's predicament..

the execs learned nothing from their Megyn Kelly debacle ... in their rush to capture the MAGA audience they managed to crap all over themselves..

[SupportSanity]

58. This strategy would be much cheaper. And besides,

Ronna might not be able to be on any one else's network while under contract. Silence her at the same time?

[Escurumbele]

22. You are correct, 100% Let them pay for their stupidity.

[Happy Hoosier]

3. If I were an NBC shareholder....

I would be pissed and I’d want the head of the asshole that hired her. What a shitty business decision.

[Omnipresent]

4. Who were the idiots at NBC that hired her?

[SunSeeker]

64. Cesar Conde

“I want to personally apologize to our team members who felt we let them down,” Conde continued. “While this was a collective recommendation by some members of our leadership team, I approved it and take full responsibility for it.”

https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/26/media/nbc-news-ousts-ronna-mcdaniel/index.html

[Takket]

7. She should be paid. It isn't her fault some right wing Loving hack gave her a contract

She’s entitled to every penny but I’m still glad she’s off the air where she can’t poison the electorate anymore.

[sanatanadharma]

8. Keep her on, give her nothing to do, keep her from going elsewhere for two years

If NBC will have to pay anyway, keep her silent and on ice for two years to get some value from NBC's money.

[SouthernDem4ever]

15. Not a bad idea

Give her an assignment writing positive headlines for the Democratic candidates. Of course they will all need to be checked for accuracy.

[Escurumbele]

20. Best idea yet, you should send it to NBC. Tell them to give her a red stapler and an office in the basement without

a phone, never invite her to meetings, and she will eventually quit. Also, make sure she is available during working hours.

[agingdem]

23. sounds good...

I think MSNBC now has the opportunity to swing an obvious left...hone in on Trump's Hitler-speak ...concentration camps deportations, giving Putin a wide berth to plunder Europe, jailing the media, shooting protestors, installing his January 6 accomplices in cabinet positions to carry out his revenge and retribution agenda..don't hide Trump because he spews lies and racist tropes...showcase his profane mush-mouth vomit/ incoherent blathering (gas stoves, windmills)/reaching for words he is unable to pronounce..just a thought...

[sybylla]

25. Yep, and when she's charged with criming over the fake electors

the company has an out on their contract with her.

[TheBlackAdder]

46. Yep. Park her in a closet. Make her show up to work everyday and prevent her from working elsewhere.

[Sogo]

50. What's that term that National Enquirer used about stories they didn't want out?

"Catch and kill??"

[Hassin Bin Sober]

51. I could be wrong but $600k for 2 years doesn't sound like an exclusive contract.

[Takket]

61. you, my friend, are brilliant!!! Call NBC! lol

[JI7]

9. Whoever hired her should be fired

[jrthin]

10. Whomever decided to hire her should be fired. nt

[getagrip_already]

11. Technically, she hasnt been fired yet...

I'm sure they can make her a potted plant somewhere. Have her appear at a hurricane or two, give her opinion of a city council race in some dusty town in East Texas with a population of 25. Location shots. Never use the footage.

What are they going to sue for? Not putting her on prime time?

[Escurumbele]

21. We would need to read the contract to understand in what capacity she was hired. That is what her lawyers will

be looking at.

[moreland01]

35. Have her be "on call"

at 2am every single day just in case they need her opinion on a story.

[PCIntern]

12. She didn't breach her contract, NBC breached common sense and morality

Idiots. Utter morons. Wtf did they think was going to happen if they hired the equivalent of Benedict Arnold (yeah I know) and attempted to foist her onto an “unwitting” (sic) public? Dopes.

[SouthernDem4ever]

14. Take it out of the salary of the exec that hired her

It won't be a big hit for him, no doubt. He can look at it like he took her out for a real expensive dinner.

[kentuck]

17. They could have just donated to the Trump campaign...

...and saved themselves the headache.

[Rocknation]

24. Why should she get more than what she's ALREADY not earned?

And shouldn't the people responsible for hiring her be fired, too?


Rocknation

[DaBronx]

30. I hope she gets every penny

To be honest, as I said in another thread, those in charge have no moral compass. It seems at least 3 heads need to roll….the heads of nbcnews, MSNBC, any person who approved the hire including HR.
They entered into a contract with her. That was the mistake and it was a very bad expensive one.
Whatever the terms of the contract, it should be upheld. Even if that means she gets every
Cent.
Fair is fair even if she is an unAmerican traitor. The real fools here are the executives, and they must
Pay her what the contract stipulates, and further pay the public- with their
Jobs.they are a disgrace to journalism.

[Mordred]

27. Settle

If she really wants out of contract now, offer her $100k and the other $500k split up in donations in her name to the DNC, Biden and other Dem candidates and superPACs.

Otherwise sideline and muzzle her until mid-next year and offer a really bad settlement.

[bucolic_frolic]

31. Yes. They have a contract, though who knows what it says

Decided not to use you. Sit tight, you're under contract.

[MichMan]

36. She isn't the one that wants to terminate the contract, NBC is.

[bucolic_frolic]

29. But she lies about elections

How can she be expected to fulfill the contract when she's damaged goods in that sense? Network should have known better, but they could also feel they didn't quite know what they were getting into.

[Blue Owl]

32. Wow, next time they wanna throw $600,000 away....

I have a receptacle bin they are welcome to use....

[dembotoz]

33. depends on what contract says....i would be open to be paid for not going on the air

please forward my name to nbc

[twodogsbarking]

34. NBC hasn't always been, well, fucked up.

The Huntley–Brinkley Report (sometimes known as The Texaco Huntley–Brinkley Report for one of its early sponsors) was an American evening news program that aired on NBC from October 29, 1956, to July 31, 1970

[KatyaR]

38. Money well spent.

Drop in the bucket for NBC.

[padah513]

43. Don't drag this out with litigation. Better to pay her off and put her and the story in the rear-view mirror.

Consider it a lesson learned.

[beaglelover]

45. I'm not surprised. It's extremely common for an on-air person to sign a contract with a term limit. If they are fired

during the term of the contract, the employer usually pays them for the length of the contract. $600,000 seems pretty cheap to me, actually.

[Deminpenn]

47. NBC did get a money quote out of her when she said

Biden won the 2020 election fair and square. Despite all the Trump butt-kissing she did, that one statement, whether or not she believes it, will make her a persona non grata in Trump world.

[oasis]

48. Put her to work shuffling papers

40 hours a week.

[bluestarone]

53. Exactly. If the contract states NBC controls her duties, then

Make her report everyday cleaning rest rooms and offices. EVERYDAY!

[oasis]

54. Long ago, Mitch Kupchak, L.A.

Lakers player had an injury that would keep him off the court for months.
Laker management put him to work in the front office.

[Martin68]

49. Serves NBC right for hiring her in the first place. They signed a contract so they have to pay up to break it.

[Cha]

56. Guessing it would be more expensive

to keep her on in spite of the Gigantic Pushback.

[liberalla]

57. It should be deducted from the paychecks of the "brainy" ones who made

the BRILLIANT decision to hire her!

[FakeNoose]

62. Yep - the entire Executive Board of NBC should forfeit their Christmas bonuses

Maybe they'll think twice about pulling this kind of shit again.
Anybody think that will actually happen? Naaaah.

[sybylla]

60. Not sure how you get a big pay out when you lied your ass off in your first interview.

Marc Elias called out 3 big election lies she repeated.

That kind of bullshit should get you fired, even by an employer who was dumb enough to give you a contract.

[SunSeeker]

65. Exactly. Dan Rather got fired for a lot less.

She used her new NBC platform to push a dangerous election lie, claiming on her first day on air at NBC that the 2020 election had "problems." It didn't.

Dan Rather got fired for a lot less, and didn't get a dime when he sued.

Dan Rather left the anchor desk in 2005 following the Killian documents controversy, in which he presented unauthenticated documents in a news report on President George W. Bush's Vietnam War–era service in the National Guard. He continued to work with CBS until 2006, when he was abruptly fired. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/dan-rather-cbs-news-corporate-media_n_1531121

In September 2007, Rather filed a $70 million lawsuit against CBS and its former parent company Viacom. Rather accused the network and its ownership and management of making him a "scapegoat" in the Killian story. An intermediate New York state appeals court dismissed the lawsuit in September 2009, and the New York Court of Appeals refused to reinstate it in January 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20091002082508/http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090929/tv_nm/us_rather_cbs_1

[Javaman]

66. meh small price to pay and besides...

she'll burn through that pretty fast.

[rickford66]

67. Give her an office in an empty warehouse. Just a desk and chair and phone.

Tell her to wait for a call. I think Henry Ford II got Lee Iacocca to resign that way.

[FeelingBlue]

68. I agree with this.

Keep her on. But, they should make her come to an office daily and give her assignments that they don’t use. By this, they save a boatload of money.

[spanone]

70. stupid decisions can be expensive....