Podcaster Adam Carolla is standing by Mark Geragos, his friend, and co-host of the Reasonable Doubt podcast, even though CNN cut ties with the attorney after he was reported to be an unindicted co-conspirator in the Michael Avenatti legal scandal.
Geragos declined to address the allegations Tuesday when he was pressed by Carolla on The Adam Carolla Show though Geragos said he was eager to do so, saying “I can’t get into that yet, but maybe by Saturday I will.” Saturday is when the latest episode of Reasonable Doubt is scheduled to drop.
The 61-year-old, however, wasn’t reticent when it came to CNN, calling the news network, “a lame-ass organization.”
“They ought to change their name to the `Cut-And-Run Network’,” Geragos said, adding CNN re-upped his contract less than a year ago. “I have been texted by all of their anchors who are as outraged as I am that after 20 years a press conference was enough to have them to immediately disassociate themselves (from me).”
In what he described as a “delicious irony’, Geragos claimed that CNN bookers are “blowing up his phone” with invitations to discuss the tribulations of his client Jussie Smollet, the TV actor whose charges of reporting a bogus hate crime attack were abruptly dismissed by prosecutors yesterday. He joked that “CNN is not exactly on my top 10 list.”
Carolla accused CNN of a “knee-jerk” reaction regarding Geragos and encouraged the attorney to see if Fox News might be interested in his services. According to Geragos, Fox has treated him fairly.
“How can they drop him?” Carolla asked, referring to CNN. “They don’t know anything.”
Indeed, it isn’t clear what Geragos might have done wrong.
According to the Los Angles Times, Avenatti doesn’t have deep ties with Geragos. Avenatti sought Geragos’s advice when he was arrested last year on suspicion of domestic violence, charges that prosecutors decided to drop. Geragos also appears to be financially secure and has no need to participate in the extortion scheme against Nike that Avenatti has been accused with concocting, the newspaper said.
Avenatti allegedly demanded that Nike pay him millions in fees to conduct a bogus internal investigation to avoid him publicly disclosing the athletic apparel company’s improper payments to the families of high school and college basketball players. Geragos helped broker Nike’s recent sponsorship of former San Francisco 49er Quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who cut short his NFL career when he knelt during the National Anthem to protest police brutality.
Avenatti, who gained notoriety for his representation of porn star Stormy Daniels in her legal battles with President Trump, has denied wrongdoing in all cases. Daniels has cut ties with Avenatti, saying he misled her, a claim the attorney denies.
Launched in 2015, Reasonable Doubt is produced by Carolla Digital, the comedian's production company and distributed over the PodcastOne Network. PodcastOne didn't respond to a request for comment for this story. CNN, which is part of AT&T's WarnerMedia division, couldn't be reached.
Carolla is celebrating the 10th anniversary this year of The Adam Carolla Show, holder of The Guinness Book of World Records award for the most downloaded podcast. Earlier this year, Carolla extended his partnership with PodcastOne through 2023.
