9/2/09 UPDATE: Video from Fox News Channel’s Glenn Beck playing excerpts from the August 10th conference call
9/2/09 UPDATE: Transcript of phone interview added.
SEE RELATED:
On a previous blog, the Washington Times Water Cooler reported that we contacted the National Endowment for the Arts’s (NEA) Yosi Sergant about an August 10th conference call invitation sent out to artists and other creative influence peddlers. When asked if the NEA sent the invitation, Mr. Sergant denied the NEA had sent the invitations to any participants for the conference call and refused to send the Washington Times a copy of the invite. AUDIO
OPERATOR: Kerry?
WASHINGTON TIMES: Yeah?
OPERATOR: You have Yosi Sergant in the communications office.
WASHINGTON TIMES : Okay.
YOSI SERGANT: Hello?
WASHINGTON TIMES: Hi, this is Kerry Picket. I’m calling from the Washington Times Editorial page.
SERGANT: Hi, Kerry. How are you?
WASHINGTON TIMES: Fine thank you. Hey, I understand that there was a conference call on August 10th that the NEA invited producers, artists, marketers, etcetera.
SERGANT: The NEA didn’t invite…We were a participant in a call. It was a third party that did the invitation.
WASHINGTON TIMES: I see. I was wondering If you could send me, if possible, a copy of the invitation?
SERGANT: Umm…It didn’t come from us, so I don’t have it to distribute. You’d go to them for that.
WASHINGTON TIMES: Uh-huh. So who is the third party?
SERGANT – I believe it was Michael Skolnick. This is something you should call the Corporation for National Service about.
WASHINGTON TIMES: National Corporation of…I’m sorry?
SERGANT – The Corporation for National and Community Service.
WASHINGTON TIMES: Michael Skolnick?
SERGANT: No, he’s a third party, but the Corporation who set up the conference call, and who conducted the conference call is another federal agency.
WASHINGTON TIMES: Great. Thank you.
Yet, Big Hollywood’s Patrick Courrielche was invited to participate in the August 10th pow-wow, and he posted the email invite from Yosi Sergant yesterday on Andrew Breitbart’s Big Hollywood’s website:
It looks as if Mr. Sergant seems to be playing fast and loose with the truth. The Washington Times called Mr. Sergant three times today to comment on this invitation that Mr. Courrielche had received from Mr. Sergant’s NEA email, but we have not received a response yet. This blog will be updated should new information come in.
