Gallagher faces lawsuit for shove at Branson show

Branson, Mo. – Comedian Gallagher, known for smashing watermelons during his performances, was accused of shoving an audience member here last summer and now faces a lawsuit.

Leo Gallagher, 59, was to perform from June 16 through Sept. 4 at the Moe Bandy Theater in Branson.

The promoters that brought the comedian to the southwest Missouri resort town, Miami-based Branson Partners LLC, sued Gallagher for breach of contract after his shows were canceled because of the allegations from a theater employee.

Marcy Kowalski alleged the comedian swore at her and bruised her arm when he pushed her back into her front-row seat.

A hearing on the lawsuit was scheduled for next week.

Gallagher has faced similar allegations, including in June, when a patron said the comedian slapped him during a Las Vegas performance.

Daly denies New Year’s Eve showdown with Seacrest

Los Angeles – Carson Daly has dismissed the idea that he and Ryan Seacrest are in a rivalry to replace New Year’s Eve icon Dick Clark, who suffered a stroke two years ago.

“Dick Clark is a huge inspiration for the huge success he’s achieved,” Daly told the Los Angeles Times in a recent interview. “But that’s where I stop. The world is changing. I’m young; I have my own thoughts as a producer. I’m not trying to keep his tradition. I’m trying to do my own.”

Both Daly and Seacrest will return Sunday night as competitors in their second New Year’s Eve as Clark, 77, continues to recover from a 2004 stroke.

Last year Seacrest, who hosts the popular television show “American Idol,” took over much of the broadcast for “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” a three-and-a-half hour show broadcast on ABC. He returns in that role again this year.

Daly will host NBC’s “New Year’s Eve With Carson Daly.”

Longtime CBS president dies

New York – Frank Stanton, a broadcasting pioneer and CBS president for 26 years who helped turn its TV operation into the “Tiffany network” and built CBS News into a respected information source, died Sunday. He was 98.

Stanton once summarized his duties as “keeping the company going.” But during his long association with CBS founder William S. Paley, the psychologist helped build the company from a modest chain of radio affiliates into a communications empire whose centerpiece became the nation’s pre-eminent TV network.

“If broadcasting had a patron saint, it would be Frank Stanton. If CBS is the Tiffany Network, Frank Stanton deserves the lion’s share of the credit,” said “60 Minutes” creator Don Hewitt.