Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
« Back to the grid | Next story »

Fox Thumbs Nose at $91K FCC Fine

Posted Mar 25, 08 11:00 AM CDT in Arts & Living,  Business 

(Newser) – Think strippers and whipped cream is indecent? Pshaw, says Fox, which wants the FCC to drop a $91,000 indecency fine for a 2003 episode of “Married by America” in which contestants at rowdy parties licked whipped cream off topless strippers. The network originally was fined $1.2 million, reports Bloomberg, but the FCC decided to impose $7,000 fines only on the 13 stations that received complaints.

Fox, which has consistently challenged FCC indecency rulings, called the fines “arbitrary and capricious.” The FCC said it would continue to enforce indecency standards and called the scenes “pandering and titillating.” A federal appeals court ruled in Fox's favor in a recent case dealing with one-time expletives in live settings. The Supreme Court plans to review the ruling.

Sources Bloomberg, Variety

0 comments | Print E-mail | Digg Seed this on Newsvine Add this link to Del.icio.us StumbleUpon

Related Newser Stories

  • 'Wardrobe Malfunction' Case Bound for Supreme Court

    Nov 21, 08 2:22 PM CST
    'Wardrobe Malfunction' Case Bound for Supreme Court The FCC is continuing to push the "wardrobe malfunction" case and has turned to the Supreme Court, Broadcasting & Cable reports. The agency is attempting to have its $550,000 fine reinstated against CBS for Janet Jackson’s disrobing during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show. A federal appeals court threw out the fine in July.
    More »

  • Supremes Won't Air Dirty Laundry

    Nov 3, 08 3:59 PM CST
    Supremes Won't Air Dirty Laundry Election Day is likely to inspire swearing in some places and sure to see off-color language in one unlikely locale: the Supreme Court. But the American public will have to wait until next summer to hear tomorrow's oral arguments in a landmark indecency case, FCC vs. Fox, the Justices ruled today. "We are disappointed," a spokesman for C-SPAN, which had pushed for the audiotape release, tells Broadcasting & Cable.
    More »

  • Court Tosses Super Bowl Fine

    Jul 21, 08 1:27 PM CDT
    Court Tosses Super Bowl Fine A federal appeals court today threw out the FCC $550,000 fine against CBS for Janet Jackson’s infamous 2004 “wardrobe malfunction.” The decency watchdogs were found to have acted arbitrarily in changing their policy of not punishing fleeting nudity, Broadcasting & Cable reports. The court separately said the network couldn’t be held "vicariously liable" for the halftime breast-baring—that is, liable for something it didn't plan and could not foresee. More »

  • Justice Dept. Sues Fox Over Raunchy Reality Show

    Apr 5, 08 8:37 AM CDT
    Justice Dept. Sues Fox Over Raunchy Reality Show The Justice Department has stepped in to force Fox to pay up $56,000 in indecency fines levied by the FCC but challenged by the broadcaster, Variety reports. Eight Fox-owned stations are being sued to collect fines for a 2003 episode of "Married by America" that featured men at a bachelor party licking whipped cream off topless strippers. More »

  • Supremes to Weigh On-Air Swearing

    Mar 17, 08 1:11 PM CDT
    Supremes to Weigh On-Air Swearing The Supreme Court might take up a gavel in one hand and a bar of soap in the other next term, when it considers a case challenging the FCC’s “fleeting utterances” standards, it announced today. The FCC is appealing a lower-court ruling—which arose when Cher dropped an F-bomb during a 2002 Fox broadcast—that it has failed to “articulate a reasoned basis” for the rules. More »

Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, USA, Kevin Martin gestures while speaking during a working session at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Friday Jan. 25, 2008.   (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Kevin Martin.   (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Kevin Martin.   (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
A clip of Stephen, Xavier, and Kevin on Married by America   (JoeMattress10 (YouTube))

View larger videos >>
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next »
Our editors also recommend:

Tags

FCC • Fox • indecency • stripper


Today's Most Popular

Loading...

Other Business Stories

What is Newser?

2008 Codie Finalist

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser a team of editors and writers culls the most important stories from hundreds of U.S. and international sources and reduces them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. It's the Newser guarantee: we can take any report or column or video and pack what you need to know into 120 words or less. Newser's short-form aggregation, visual format, and unique information tools help you get more of the kind of news you want, in a quicker and more entertaining way. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »