Rudy Giuliani was suspended from WABC radio on Friday and his show was canceled, according to station owner John Catsimatidis.
Catsimatidis, a billionaire and major GOP donor, told NBC News that Giuliani had been warned twice by station management about on-air comments questioning the legitimacy of the 2020 election on his three-year-old daily talk show.
Giuliani was suspended and his show was canceled reported first by the New York Times.
In a letter addressed to Giuliani and obtained by NBC News, Catsimatidis said Giuliani, a former attorney for Donald Trump, is “prohibited from engaging in conversations about the 2020 presidential election” on WABC.
“These specific topics include, but are not limited to, the legitimacy of election results, allegations of fraud by election officials, and your personal claims related to those allegations,” Catsimatidis wrote in Thursday’s letter.
Reference was made in the letter recent news article two Georgian survey workers who He received a prize of 148 million dollars Last year, he paid damages in a defamation suit against Giuliani and accused him of making new false statements.
“You are now reporting fraud again. You cannot do this on our air. It is an express condition of your continued relationship with WABC. We do not condone these actions and do not want to be affected by the consequences of your conduct under any circumstances,” Catsimatidis wrote.
The cancellation of the former New York mayor’s show was not planned in advance, Catsimatidis told NBC News, adding that he “feels very bad because he is still America’s mayor, but we have to know where to draw the line.”
Giuliani condemned WABC’s actions in a statement Friday.
“This directive is a clear violation of free speech,” Giuliani said, claiming he had not been informed of the restrictions beforehand.
“Obviously, I was never informed of such a policy, and even if there was such a policy, it was violated so often that it could not be taken seriously,” Giuliani said.
Giuliani has faced accusations of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election Georgia and Arizona. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges in Georgia, but has yet to enter a plea in Arizona.
His ouster from WABC comes after some news organizations faced lawsuits from voting machine companies for making false statements about the 2020 election and the integrity of its results.
Smartmatic last month settled the defamation suit Out of court v. One America News Network. Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems in 2023 It reached an agreement of 787.5 million dollars on a 2021 lawsuit alleging the voting machine company was defamed by hosts and guests on Fox News and Fox Business.
Sarah Fitzpatrick contributed.