The abrupt end of a beautiful friendship—nearly two decades of mutual admiration between struggling media entrepreneur Glenn Beck and his fired top executive, Christopher Balfe—has become a legal battle of ugly accusations that only promise to get uglier.
“Beck has driven [Mercury Radio Arts, Beck’s wholly owned private umbrella company] into the ground due to his own erratic behavior, excessive spending, and mismanagement,” Balfe alleges in a countersuit filed Monday afternoon in Dallas County, Texas, District Court—a response to Beck’s July 29 lawsuit accusing his former protégé of fraud, breach of contract, dereliction of duty and various other misdeeds.
Balfe—whom Beck quietly fired in December 2014 while publicly lavishing praise—is demanding more than $3 million in deferred compensation and unpaid bonuses and legal fees, as well as unspecified “exemplary,” or punitive, damages.
Beck’s lawsuit—in which the official plaintiff is Mercury, parent company of Beck’s The Blaze—demands that Balfe, who was Mercury’s chief operating officer and The Blaze’s chief executive, return a portion of the $13 million he was paid from 2009 until his forced departure.
Balfe is pursuing a separate legal action claiming that Mercury and Beck are liable for his lawyer’s fees and must indemnify him from any monetary damages because of the laws of Delaware, where The Blaze is incorporated, and because The Blaze’s corporate bylaws protect officers of the company from lawsuits.
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Originally Posted by donnay
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