Today Limbaugh responded to last month’s allegation that Premiere Radio Networks hires paid actors to pretend to be real callers into various radio shows. The newspaper Tablet profiled several actors who were paid to read scripts on news topics a particular radio shows was reporting on, and they had to sign confidentiality agreements to keep their job secret.
In the article, a spokesperson for Premiere replied, “Premiere, like many other content providers, facilitates casting—while character and script development, and how the talent’s contribution is integrated into programs, are handled by the varied stations.”
Limbaugh told his audience morning shows and “shock jocks” may use fake callers but he said it’s unheard of on his show or talk radio in general. “Why would we pay for that? One of our cardinal rules is that nothing is staged. Ever!”
He also added how actors are uniformly leftist (Limbaugh is a right-wing radio host). “Any actor who could prove he called into this show for payment could rat me out and never have to worry about working a day in his life. But such an actor does not exist.” He said there would be evidence of this “great injustice.”
Limbaugh said the only wacky callers he receives are from “looped out liberals” and their opinions are so unique “we couldn’t duplicate it if we wanted to do.”
The Tablet article states these actors earn $40 an hour and they typically work an hour a day.
