Okay ladies, you can stop slapping each other nowTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ALBANY — A New York City radio station has agreed to stop its “Smackfest” promotion, in which women slap each other for prizes, under a $240,000 settlement announced Monday, said state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.
WQHT Hot 97’s parent company, Emmis Communications, agreed to pay a settlement equal to the maximum fine it faced, Spitzer said.
Spitzer and the state Athletic Commission stated that the hip-hop and rhythm and blues station held 24 “Smackfest” contests from April 2004 to January 2005. Young women took turns “violently slapping” each other for concert tickets and as much as $5,000 in cash, Spitzer said. Images of the slapping then ran on the station’s Web site.
“This agreement should be a wake up call to all those in the entertainment industry who think outrageousness is a clever marketing strategy,” Spitzer said.
I bet their ratings rose.