NEW YORK – A settlement has been reached in CBS Radio's breach of contract lawsuit against radio host Howard Stern, an official in a court clerk's office in New York said Wednesday, but both sides said no agreement had been signed.
"The only response we're authorized to give you is the settlement agreement is not yet signed. We will release a statement when it is," said the office of Peter Parcher, lawyer for Stern.
"CBS says a settlement agreement has not been signed. When it is signed, we will make an announcement," a spokesman said.
CBS Corp. (CBS) filed a suit in February accusing the raunchy radio star of improperly using his final 14 months at CBS Radio to promote Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.(SIRI), with whom he had signed a five-year deal valued at $500 million in October 2004.
At a hearing two weeks ago, the CBS lawyer told the court the two sides were close to settling. Then last Wednesday, New York state court Judge Ira Gammerman postponed a scheduled hearing by a week to give more time for a settlement.
Stern, who ended his CBS run in December 2005 and debuted on Sirius a month later, has called the suit a vendetta and said he did nothing wrong.
Stern's move to satellite radio freed him from U.S. regulations that bar indecent and obscene material on broadcast airwaves.
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