AAN Association of Alternative Newsmedia

Louisville Eccentric Observer Settles Inquiry Over Light-Hearted Ad

By AAN Staff

december 20, 2007 11:26 am

"In our issue before the Kentucky Derby, we ran an ad for a bar that was holding a 'no celebrities allowed' party," LEO editor Cary Stemle tells AAN News. "At that time of year here, there's lots of fancy parties that involve celebs and it gets tons of attention," he explains. The ad read, in part: "If you have an agent, publicist, third world adopted baby, or front row seats to the Church of Scientology, you have no chance of getting in." Alfonso Lanceta, the chairperson of the enforcement board of the Metro Human Relations Commission, filed a formal complaint against the paper, contending that the ad's text attempted to prevent not Angelina Jolie and Tom Cruise from attending its party, but anyone who's adopted a person from the Third World, as well as all Scientologists. After spending more than $5,000 in attorney's fees, LEO settled with the Commission, and had to print an ad this week reaffirming its commitment to uphold non-discrimination standards. "This advertisement is an appeal to the common man in every sense of the term," a University of Louisville dean tells LEO. "I have to believe that the Metro Human Relations Commission didn't get the joke."

View full article at Louisville Eccentric Observer