TELEVISION - Preacher sues `20/20,' alleging defamation
The Rev. Frederick K.C. Price may have two Bentleys, but a spokesman for his 22,000-member church says his Palos Verdes house doesn't boast 25 rooms and he definitely doesn't own a helicopter. A lawsuit Price filed Tuesday claims that ABC's "20/20" defamed him when it suggested otherwise, portraying him as a "hypocrite and thief" who financed an extravagant lifestyle with church funds.
Price, founder of the Crenshaw Christian Center, was featured in a "20/20" segment about well-heeled televangelists titled "Enough!" that the suit says "devastated, embarrassed and greatly humiliated" the 75-year-old. The suit also names Walt Disney Co., which owns ABC, and "20/20" co-anchor John Stossel.
In the March 23 segment, "20/20" ran a clip from a sermon Price delivered 10 years ago and displayed a still photo of the preacher as Stossel interviewed an activist who keeps tabs on how ministries spend congregants' donations. The suit calls the use of the clip "one of the most outrageous instances of 'out of context' editing in the history of television."
In the clip, Price declares, "I live in a 25-room mansion, I have my own $6-million yacht, I have my own private jet and I have my own helicopter and I have seven luxury automobiles."
In the full sermon, according to an excerpt provided by a spokesman for Price, he prefaced that by saying, "I was pointing out that there is such a thing as bad success. I said bad success is
Price wasn't interviewed for the "20/20" segment. The suit says the defendants "never approached Dr. Price or the church to check their facts."
The suit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, seeks unspecified damages and accuses ABC of breaching "fundamental journalist guidelines" and acting "in reckless disregard" for the truth.
ABC spokesman Jeffrey Schneider said he couldn't comment on the suit but noted that the network had run two retractions, one on "Good Morning America" and the other on "20/20." ABC also posted a retraction on its website.
"We did make a full retraction and apology on the air and certainly regretted the error and made that very clear to Rev. Price," Schneider said.
In the retraction, Stossel said "20/20" had thought Price was talking about himself in the sermon. "We used his quote out of context, and for that we apologize to Dr. Price and to the Crenshaw Christian Center and to you if we misled you," Stossel said.
