Former US vice-presidential contender's TV career hits controversy, even before her show goes on air, after it emerges that celebrities supposedly interviewed for her new series had never met her

Palin's faux news show

Former US vice-presidential contender's TV career hits controversy, even before her show goes on air, after it emerges that celebrities supposedly interviewed for her new series had never met her

Oops... i did it again: Sarah Palin's show was being advertised as one that will air 'Real American Stories'. File pic

The former Republican vice-presidential contender has been hired as host of Real American Stories, a series for the Fox News channel about "real-life tales of overcoming adversity throughout the American landscape".

However, excitement about her latest on-camera foray swiftly turned into embarrassment as guests on the inaugural show, which was broadcast last night, expressed surprise about their involvement.

LL Cool J, a rapper and actor who was to have provided his heart-warming story in the show's In Their Own Words segment, said that Fox had "lifted" an interview he gave to "someone else" in 2008 and were "misrepresenting to the public in order to promote Sarah Palin's show".

Clueless

Hours later, it emerged that the country singer Toby Keith, billed to explain the inspiration behind his song Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue on the programme, had never met Palin either. The singer's publicist said the interview was conducted in January, 2009, in Las Vegas, adding that Fox had never contacted them about including it in the Palin show.

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COMING SOON
Palin recently signed a deal with Discovery to star in a documentary series called "Sarah Palin's Alaska".u00a0 The show will comprise eight episodes , and each will be shot at the cost of about $1 million (Rs 4.5 crore). Filming is set to start this summer, but the date on which the show will be aired is yet to be determined.

Fox News, a staunchly Right-wing network owned by Rupert Murdoch, responded to the criticism by removing the segment featuring LL Cool J -- real name James Todd Smith -- from the programme.

In a waspish statement, it said that "as it appears that Smith does not want to be associated with a programme that could serve as an inspiration to others, we are cutting his interview from the special and wish him the best with his fledgling acting career".

Only a host

Fox News had described Palin as "hosting the show" in its publicity announcements, but some media outlets had interpreted that as involving actual conversations with her guests.

The former governor of Alaska signed a paid contributor agreement with Fox News in January.

Palin's experience on the other side of the camera has been similarly chequered. She was ridiculed over interviews she gave to CBS News during the 2008 presidential campaign in which she claimed Alaska's proximity to Russia enhanced her foreign policy experience.

Did you know?
In 1984, she finished third in the Miss Alaska pageant and received the Miss Congeniality Award

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