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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2008 > September > 10 > Entry
Boortz producer getting Web heat over Crocs suit
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Usually, it’s “Neal Boortz Show” executive producer Belinda Skelton’s boss who is the target of angry blog comments. But the poison keyboards turned on the Atlanta mom Wednesday after the media began reporting on her family’s lawsuit against Crocs footwear filed in U.S. District Court. The suit filed by Skelton’s husband, Clark Meyer, is asking for $2 million after the couple’s 4-year-old son (shown below) was injured last month at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport when the popular plastic footwear he was wearing got caught in a moving escalator.
Multiple toes were broken on their son’s right foot and his big toe came “within millimeters” of being lost.
On Wednesday, angry commenters at wsbradio.com posted some unkind things about Skelton and questioned her parenting skills.
Wrote a blog commenter who identified himself as “Ted”: “Crocs are not shoes. They’re [junk] your kids scream for.” Added a blogger identifying himself as “Randy”: “Gee, do you think two million is enough? You are a real piece of work.”
But Boortz listener “Melanie R” defended Skelton on the Web site, posting: “Belinda: I think you are strong for acting out to protect kids.”
Skelton conceded that she was avoiding the message boards Wednesday. “It’s days like this when you find out who your friends are,” she told Buzz with a sigh. Skelton said money was not a factor in filing the suit.
“We struggled, and we prayed over this,” she said. “But we felt that someone had to force Crocs to do the right thing. We want a warning tag on those shoes.”
Skelton said her 4-year-old won’t discuss last month’s incident and can’t curl his toes.
“It was the most traumatic thing I’ve ever been through as a parent,” she said. “If some of these bloggers had to lie next to my son at night and listen as he has nightmares, maybe they would feel differently. My husband and I are struggling a lot right now.”
Still, Skelton has the support of her boss when she goes to work each weekday.
Said Skelton: “Neal is like my big brother. He can beat up on me, but God help anyone else who tries it!”
Skelton works for WSB Radio, a station owned by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s parent company, Cox Enterprises Inc.
In an e-mail to Buzz Wednesday, Crocs spokeswoman Tia Mattson told us the company “does not comment on litigation.”
You can comment on the radio/tv blog here.
BY THE NUMBERS
Locally, Georgia schools Superintendent Kathy Cox drew more viewers than supermodel Kathy Ireland last Friday on Fox’s “Are You Smarter Than a 5th-Grader?” Cox’s $1 million victory at 9 p.m. was the top nonsports program last week with 312,000 viewers, according to Nielsen ratings, compared to 226,000 viewers for Ireland’s portion at 8 p.m.
The Jeff Foxworthy-hosted quiz show finished in 14th place nationwide with a respectable 8.6 million viewers.
The MTV Video Music Awards, which featured a live video by Atlanta’s T.I., ranked 15th in Atlanta with 204,000 viewers and 16th nationally with 8.2 million, the program’s best showing in years.
STORK REPORT
People.com is reporting that Atlanta R&B superstar Usher Raymond and his bride of 13 months, Tameka, are expecting their second child.
“A source close to the singer,” the site says, confirmed the news. That unidentified source added that Mrs. Raymond “was spotted wearing a belly-disguising outfit during Usher’s Sept. 4 NFL kickoff concert in New York. The dress was ‘very deceiving.’ … ‘You couldn’t tell she was pregnant when she was sitting down’. “
Raymond’s record label publicists have yet to address numerous inquiries about their pregnancy; and the couple’s recent publicist on more personal matters said she no longer represents them.
The Raymonds had their first child, Usher Raymond V — whom they call Cinco — on Nov. 26, 2007.
Joked the singer to the AJC after the first birth: “My wife is very fertile. I think she wouldn’t mind having another one right now!”
‘FACE TO FACE’ WITH FALCONS’ TURNER
Impressed Atlanta Falcons fans who cheered on Michael Turner as he set a new single-game rushing record (220 yards on 22 carries) during last Sunday’s game at the Georgia Dome may want to head to Buckhead Thursday night. Turner will be the guest of honor tonight at ESPN Zone as he’s interviewed for a taping of WXIA’s “Falcons Face-to-Face” pregame show. We’re told the taping will begin at 7:30 p.m. The taping is open to the public, and Falcons fans will have an opportunity to score Falcons tickets and gear, along with autographs from Turner.
RAMSEY: ‘I FORGIVE THE MEDIA’
Former Atlantan John Ramsey says he has forgiven the news media for the “cyberspace lynching” he and his wife Patsy endured until prosecutors cleared them in the 1996 killing of their 6-year-old daughter, JonBenet.
Ramsey appeared on an episode of “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” broadcast Wednesday.
He said he considers new DNA tests that point to an outsider to be progress in the case.
The interview was Ramsey’s first national TV appearance since prosecutors cleared his family in July. Patsy Ramsey died of cancer in 2006.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Movie director Brian De Palma is 68. Drummer Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead is 65. Musician Moby is 43. Singer Harry Connick Jr. is 41. Guitarist Jon Buckland of Coldplay is 31. Rapper Ludacris is 31. Singer Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum is 27.
Contributing: Sonia Murray, Rodney Ho and news services
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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