Last April, Fox News publicly chastised Jim Cramer, the unceasingly outspoken Net stock pundit and founder of TheStreet.com, for touting his own company's stock on TheStreet.com's weekly finance show, which Fox hosts.
Last week, Cramer didn't say a single word during the show's taping. In fact, he didn't even show up -- making good on a promise to blow off the network that he claims disparaged his integrity.
Monday, Fox News responded with a lawsuit charging Cramer breached his contract. The suit, filed in New York Supreme Court, seeks monetary damages, plus an injunction preventing Cramer or TheStreet.com from jumping to another network.
"Mr. Cramer failed to appear for last week's show, which placed him in breach of his current contract," read a statement from Fox News. "The contract specifies that he must appear on TheStreet.com television program for FOX News Channel 40 times in each 12-month period of his three-year contract."
Cramer's contract runs through September 13, 2002, Fox said. A separate contract for TheStreet.com runs through May 7, 2001.
TheStreet.com declined comment on the lawsuit.
Last week, however, Cramer and TheStreet.com announced they were canceling the contracts at issue, charging that Fox News breached them when it criticized Cramer in statements to the New York Daily News.
"We cannot stand by and let a joint venture partner disparage our integrity and impugn our honesty," TheStreet CEO Thomas Clarke said in a statement.
TheStreet.com taped its show last week -- sans Cramer -- but said this week's taping would be its last.
It had better not be, said Fox.
"TheStreet.com has put forth the unfathomable claim that a published newspaper article permits Mr. Cramer and TheStreet.com to walk away from his and its obligations under two separate contracts both of which run until at least September 2002 and May 2001 respectively," wrote Dianne Brandi, Fox News' vice president of legal affairs.
