The office of the vice standard bearer of the Liberian People's Party (LPP) has threatened a lawsuit against Spoon FM Network and its former Chief Executive Officer Mr. Stanton Witherspoon over character deformation.
Addressing a major press conference on Sunday, 22 October 2023, Dr. Emmanuel K. Urey Yarkpawolo, the running mate to Cllr. Tiawan Saye Gongloe alleged that Mr. Witherspoon made demeaning and false statements against him.
"I want to bring to your attention the Spoon Talk October 20, 2023, edition aired on the Spoon Network Inc.," said Mr. Yarkpawolo.
"I draw the public attention to several demonstrably false statements made on the show that were not only outright lies but also have injured me greatly by defaming my high-earned character and endangering my life in the wake of the upcoming runoff presidential election," Dr. Urey-Yarkpawolo stated.
According to him, on the Spoon Talk, Mr. Witherspoon among other things said that he called for an LPP leadership meeting in which he wrote a letter to the LPP Executive Committee requesting the LPP to support the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC).
Urey-Yarkpawolo said Witherspoon alleged that he called for LPP support to CDC because Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor is from Bong and they are friends.
Dr. Yarkpawolo-Urey also stated that Mr. Witherspoon alleged that he had convinced 25 percent of the Executive Members, but 75 percent were unconvinced.
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He complained that Mr. Witherspoon also indicated that "So Tiawan Gongloe is in a problem now with his Vice Standard Bearer, Yarkpawolo."
He added that Mr. Witherspoon also said it was "shocking" because people were "mad."
Additionally, Yarkpawolo noted that Kou, a panelist of the Spoon Talk said "But the last time you hosted Yarkpawol here he told you say when he is Vice President he will not listen to his bossman. He told you on this show when you brought him."
" Let me state for the record that at no time did I make any demand or write a letter for the LPP to support any of the two parties remaining in the presidential electoral process," Dr. Urey-Yarkpawolo clarified.
Displaying the letter and series of screenshots, Dr. Urey-Yarkpawolo said the letter Mr. Witherspoon mentioned and put up was never written by him and the content is completely different from what Mr. Witherspoon said he wrote.
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"I also want to inform the public that Kou's allegation as mentioned above is false,
baseless, and malicious. At no time [did] I mention on the Spoon Talk or any other talk show or gathering or interview that I would not listen to Cllr. Gongloe," he noted.
Dr. Urey-Yarkpawolo pointed out that he has written the Management of Spoon
Network Inc., demanding an unreserved apology and retraction of what he described as the spurious, false, and defamatory allegations made on the Spoon Talk program against him.
"When someone or an institution is involved in the business of providing information to the public, it is duty-bound that the person endeavors to always
speak the truth and nothing else," he noted.
Dr. Urey-Yarkpawolo also noted that he had also written the Press Union of Liberia to urgently look into the matter, adding that he subscribes to freedom of expression and of the Press as well as responsible journalism.
"But if a talk show like Spoon Talk deliberately chooses to not only lie [about] me but also put my life at risk with the public, they need to be held accountable."
"Let me also state for the record that the failure on the part of Spoon Network Inc. to correct the record on this matter will leave me with no alternative but to seek legal redress for the deliberate design to defame my good name and expose me to public ridicule and endanger my life," he vowed.
