He said it was a business decision that he, and he alone made. He stated that Viacom had absolutely nothing to do with the decision; and they asked him to continue with the same programming. He cited the fact that Tavis sought and received an interview about the Patty Hearst(Symbionese Liberation Army) situation-which, at that time was a very hot and sought-after interview. Tavis got the interview, and didn't even give BET a chance to buy/run it-inspite of the fact that he had been with them for 5 years. Tavis showed no loyalty at all to his employer. This event, and others convinced Johnson and the BET staff that it was time for Tavis to go. Johnson also mentioned the Tom Joyner interview(lightweight) too.

He came across as being really cocky to me. He kept saying over and over".... blah, blah, blah... that's why I'm the president", or "....blah, blah, that's why I get paid". I went to bed really pissed off at his whole interview.

Convinced,,,,,I went to sleep on half of it, he was very cocky....Something is wrong with that man!!! I'm praying for Tavis....If he felt so justified in what he did, why did he need to air it on National TV....

He is a puppet for Viacom. If Tavis was unloyal or doing things that convinced him he needed to go, he should have taken action a long time ago. Why wait until now? He is looking for a good explanation to justify his actions and he can't.

I learned the hard way about jumping on bandwagons. The few times I've seen Tavis, I thought he was cool; but most of us are opportunists, and it's possible Tavis could've done some of the things he's accused of. I'm not completely sold either way. Until I know all there is available to know, I wont have an opinion on it.

The only incident Mr. Johnson kept referring to was Tavis' decision to sell the interview to ABC. Tavis stated this morning on Tom Joyner that he found out the true reason behind his firing when we did...which was last night. According to Tavis, his contract stated he was given a certain amount of outside interviews which could be conducted on his own, as long as the station he chose recognized him as an employee of BET. True, he could have asked BET, but he didn't have to do so. I guess this would be considered a good business practice to go to your boss first, but to remedy this in the future, the clauses in the contract should be changed to reflect this, if this was such a major problem.
Tavis paid the production crews to conduct this interview, not Mr. Johnson. I agree with one of the callers, isn't it quite convenient after all the "creative differences" they shared over a five year period, he abruptly decided to fire Tavis after Viacom took over? All I saw in the interview was Mr. Johnson stating this is my business, I've gotten rich from it, keep watching the videos because it's quality programming and there's more to come, I'll run it the way I want, and if you don't like it, follow Tavis to wherever he goes and I wish him well.
I wasn't impressed with the interview last night and I've never been impressed with BSET...oops I mean BET. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/rolleyes.gif

The ONLY question I still have is...

Why did Smiley's firing change from at the END of this season to IMMEDIATELY? http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/confused.gif

Was Mr. Johnson/Viacom appalled at the overwhelming support Tavis received? http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/confused.gif

Tom Joyner and Tavis ran their mouths on the radio spreading misinformation according to Mr. Johnson and he said that was the straw the broke the camel's back. But I know Mr. Johnson didn't expect to receive all the public support for Tavis, that's why he felt compelled to give us a courtesy I am the boss speech.

Here is the link to get Mr. Smiley's response to last night's interview...
http://www.tomjoyner.com/missed/smiley.html

I guess they could mean "low" or "no" quality...those are qualifiers too...LOL

What the feezy? No more Tavis? I can barely stomach the lack luster and apathetic nature of BET's regular programming, but Tavis was our hope. Now we just have a channel that perpetuates the stereotypes that are rampant in this country.



------------------
Many are called, many are chosen, but only a few are PHROZEN!

I'm glad you posted this. It gave me the perspective I needed to draw my own conclusion. Thank you AKA2d

Y'all. Come on now. Don't y'all know how LALAland operates!!!

I heard about Tavis and Patty... Hmmmmm. Now I know that pissed off Mr. Warner Brothers, Mr. Fox and Mr. whoever is in charge of Viacom. 'Cuz you know Patty is just like Nicole... So basically Tavis got himself OJ'ed...

Do we OWN the satellite in the sky that bounces off what's aired??? Why do you THINK Russia took down Mir??? Tavis was too radical. Viacom told Johnson it's gotta stop. Johnson delayed what he felt he had to do so that at least there would be some kind of Black STAR POWER in the sky. Don't y'all know that if one of Nuclear Warheads are "disposed" of or missles are launched which accidently blows a satellite outta the sky, it probably be OUR programming. This is a classic case of why us Black folks are not allowed to READ!!!

I'm not sayin' any of this is the right thing to do. It is skrait foul. But then if you understand the nature of white supremacy (Marimba Ani), then you understand at what lengths the powers that be to maintain their way of life...

Lemme ax y'all dis: Would you rather have something versus nothing??? How much are you willing to compromise?

Until an African Country, such as Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa or The Republic of Congo scrapes up enough capital to put a satellite in the sky, we will never have TRUE MOTHERSHIP CONNECTION programming... That is what it will take. That is only one of the ways. But the yurugus would blow up the African oil pipelines before that ever happens... Meanwhile, our ancestorial lands remain war torn.

Who is Patty???????

(AKA2D'91 I searched this thread I didn't see a Patty, LOL!!!)

Isn't Patty the person that Tavis was to interview and DID not give BET the "rights" to air it on the network...???????

Someone please correct me if I am incorrect.