Rush Limbaugh Denies Paying Actors To Pose As Radio Callers (AUDIO)

Rush Limbaugh helped revive a nearly month-old story on Monday when he vehemently denied ever paying actors to pose as callers to his radio show.

The story, which was published on the website of Tablet magazine in mid-February, uncovered the existence of a service called Premiere On Call, which promised radio shows "voice talent to take/make your on-air calls, improvise your scenes or deliver your scripts. Using our simple online booking tool, specify the kind of voice you need, and we'll get your the right person fast."

Tablet noted that Premiere is the same company which syndicates many radio shows, including Glenn Beck's, Sean Hannity's and Limbaugh's. However, the magazine didn't claim that any of those hosts employed the service.

Limbaugh, though, took the article personally, even if he waited a long time to respond. On his radio show, he called Tablet a "radical, left-wing operation" and said that the implication of the article was "that this program is hiring actors to portray callers." This, he said repeatedly, was not true.

If somebody had told me we were going to do this, I would put the kibosh on this," he said. "There is no way we're going to pay people to pretend to be callers here. Nothing on this program is scripted...I have never heard of this. Nothing is staged on this program, ever."

LISTEN:

Comments

[doc haynes]

09:41 PM on 03/18/2011

The Limbaugh doth protest too much, methinks.

[MadMoll]

07:45 AM on 03/14/2011

Yes, and Rush was all for locking addicts up and throwing away the key till he was busted. Now, using the same tired scream of "evul raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaadicals" he gives us another lesson in admitting while denying.

[Davey Johnson]

08:46 PM on 03/11/2011

Can't imagine why Rush would need to use actors for callers... there's no shortage of right-wing nutcases everywhere. Heck, there are enough in my town alone to keep his airtime filled for months.

[SoCalNick]

01:56 PM on 03/11/2011

HE is the one who brought this back up.................

Sure sigh that his " Star" has faded and on the way out.

When you have to revive dirt on YOURSELF to get attention then you have really jumped the Shark , Guppies, Goldfish AND Flounder.

That is all

[Red45]

01:24 PM on 03/11/2011

Liar, liar, pants on fire.

[Denemator]

10:34 AM on 03/11/2011

Just believe the opposite of anything he says and you are spot on.

[clearpepsi]

05:01 AM on 03/11/2011

It's a very established public record that laura engman does this ... made up stories so she can do the right rants... I am sure he does this.. his show airs at all times of the day all over these free rural locations so at any point only 1/6th of the audience is listening live

[marinatha]

12:00 AM on 03/11/2011

I often wondered if programs like this did use some script or actors.Now I know this could be done if one wanted to.Interesting.....

[runtwelds]

11:46 PM on 03/10/2011

She dost protest too much.

[Red45]

01:26 PM on 03/11/2011

doth

[Reiner-von-Sinn]

10:05 PM on 03/10/2011

Did he get a little Santorum on him?

[LeftySansPancho]

09:57 PM on 03/10/2011

Here's what really irks me, everything else having already been well said by thousands.

I do not like to criticize HuffPo, but I have had comments rejected for nothing more, evidently, than suggesting that Kochs and other known Tea Party bankrollers are paying people to post here. Now, HuffPo itself forwards to us an expose of an agency that facilitates exactly that - fake comment.

Granted, that agency advertises itself as making fake comments for talk radio, rather than for the internet equivalent. But with comment-buying verified as actual, enough for HuffPo to publish its own link to it, why are my posts modded out of existence for suggesting there is comment-buying here by rich radical right wingers and Tea-talitarians seeking to emulate populism?

Just sayin.

[pollie-graff]

09:49 PM on 03/10/2011

So, what is that big pile of scripts on his desk doing ?

[celmo]

08:09 PM on 03/10/2011

Typical Limbaugh caller sounds like this---------Thank you Rush for taking my call___We love you and appreciate how you explain things to us. They refer to themselves as ditto heads. Shouldn't that be dummies?

[sf girl]

08:02 PM on 03/10/2011

Rush Limbaugh. Purveyor of truth.

[Joe MommaSan]

07:17 PM on 03/10/2011

And you can believe what Rush tells you because . . . uh, because, uh . . . er . . . gimme a minute; it'll come to me.