- The Washington Times - Tuesday, February 24, 2015

A black media group has filed a $20 billion racial-discrimination lawsuit against Comcast and Time Warner, as well as MSNBC host Al Sharpton, the NAACP and other black advocacy groups, for allegedly being paid to facilitate such discrimination.

The National Association of African-American Owned Media and Entertainment Studios Networks filed the complaint in California on Friday ahead of Comcast and Time Warner’s proposed merger.

According to court documents obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, the group claims that Comcast and Time Warner “collectively spend approximately $25 billion annually for the licensing of pay-television channels and advertising of their products and services, yet 100% African American–owned media receives less than $3 million per year.”

The lawsuit claims that Comcast’s diversity deals with the NAACP, the National Urban League and Mr. Sharpton’s National Action Network are “a sham, undertaken to whitewash Comcast’s discriminatory business practices.”

“Despite the notoriously low ratings that Sharpton’s show generates, Comcast has allowed Sharpton to maintain his hosting position for more than three years in exchange for Sharpton’s continued public support for Comcast on issues of diversity,” the lawsuit says.

Comcast said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter that the complaint “represents nothing more than a string of inflammatory, inaccurate, and unsupported allegations.”

“We are proud of our outstanding record supporting and fostering diverse programming, including programming from African-American–owned and –controlled cable channels,” a spokeswoman said. “We will defend vigorously against the scurrilous allegations in this complaint and fully expect that the court will dismiss them.”

The National Action Network said it has not been served with any papers and considers the claim “frivolous.”

“If in fact we were to be served, we would gladly defend our relationship with any company as well as to state on the record why we found these discriminatory accusations made by said party to be less than credible and beneath the standards that we engage in,” the group said, THR reported. “As for Rev. Sharpton’s TV show ratings the numbers are clear. Rev. Sharpton’s show has the highest ratings of any 6 p.m. show in the history of the network.”

Mr. Sharpton said he “welcomes the opportunity to answer the frivolous allegations” and says he will be bringing counterclaims for defamation, THR reported.

• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.

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