The fallout of the decision by 77 WABC owner John Catsimatidis to cancel The Rudy Giuliani Show continues, with the billionaire defending himself from criticism by the former New York Mayor.
Giuliani’s afternoon show was ended Friday after he continually refused to adhere to company policies regarding discussions around the validity of the 2020 presidential election. A former attorney for former President Donald Trump, Giuliani has maintained that the election was rigged against his former boss and was not fairly won by Joe Biden. He is facing charges in both Georgia and Arizona for his attempts to overturn election results in those states.
On Sunday morning, Catsimatidis appeared on the New York news/talk station to discuss the situation with hosts Dominic Carter and Curtis Sliwa. He shared that lawyers for Dominion Voting Systems — who secured a $787.5 million settlement from Fox News in 2023 — had contacted the company saying that Newsmax argued that if it was going to be sued by the election machine company, WABC should also be a potential target.
John Catsimatidis revealed the company implemented a policy station it would not talk about Dominion, or any electronic voting machine companies, and has not revised that policy since.
He then shared that Giuliani — who has filed for bankruptcy after being ordered to pay $150 million to two former Georgia election officials for defamation — had given the company an ultimatum.
“On Thursday night, Rudy gave us an ultimatum saying ‘You gotta double my hours or else.’ Between the ultimatum and his attempt to talk about the electronic voting machines, management made a decision on Friday to suspend him for the day until we have time to sit down and discuss things,” Catsimatidis revealed. “We always discuss things here internally.”
The owner then said either he misspoke or The New York Times misquoted him Friday, as he said the initial decision was simply to suspend Rudy Giuliani, not cancel his program. However, when the former New York Mayor took to social media to denounce Catsimatidis, Red Apple Media, and 77 WABC leaders, he decided to permanently end the program.
In a statement provided to Barrett News Media by a company spokesperson, John Catsmiatidis reiterated the ultimatum given by Giuliani.
“Last Tuesday, May 7th, Mayor Giuliani gave me an ultimatum. He texted me that I had to double his airtime and compensation by May 28th. I told him I wanted to sit down in person to discuss this. He repeated his demand on Wednesday, May 8th.”
Catsimatidis then argued it appeared as if Rudy Giuliani was attempting to force the company to suspend or fire him.
“Given his recent ultimatum, his direct violation of an agreement he signed to not talk about electronic voting machines, and his absolute refusal to abide by company policy, the company had no choice but to suspend him last Friday, pending further discussions,” Catsimatidis wrote. “All we wanted to do was suspend him until we could have a sit-down meeting in person, as I communicated with him. However, his actions this weekend appeared to be an attempt to force my hand.”
