Monday, June 3, 2013

CTV pulls epic anti-Duffy rant from TV host Don Martin after legal advice

CTV, the network largely responsible for the rise and fall of Senator Mike Duffy, pulled a segment from the air Friday after TV host Don Martin delivered a vicious critique of the former journalist, the National Post reports.

 On the Friday 5 p.m. broadcast of “Power Play with Don Martin,” the host delivered a two-and-a-half minute teardown on the now-Independent senator, calling Duffy “the all-Canadian poster boy for political fakery.” Martin’s rant was prefaced by him saying Duffy stopped being his friend after a contentious 2009 interview with the CBC in which the tuxedo-wearing senator pegged the well-liked NDP MP Peter Stoffer as a “faker.”

 The CTV host followed by calling Duffy a “political sorcerer” who has faked a number of things during his career including; being a neutral political journalist, being a Prince Edward Islander, being a genuine conservative and finally, being broke enough to require a bailout from Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s now-former chief of staff, Nigel Wright. 

“The sole preoccupation behind Duffy’s conduct is to do what is best for Mike Duffy. That is behaviour he’ll never fake,” was how Martin ended the segment. While the rant was aired during the 5 p.m. show, it was yanked from a later rebroadcast of the show and was not posted on CTV’s website as it normally would. Sources at CTV News have told the National Post the rant made producers “nervous” and it was pulled after receiving legal advice. Martin’s comments could also be perceived as being embarrassing to CTV brass, as he said Duffy — who was a host on CTV programs from 1999 to 2008 — was openly shilling for the Conservatives on air.

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