An Open Letter to Loveline's Dr. Drew Pinsky
Lou Bruno, An Open Letter to Loveline's Dr. Drew Pinsky, The Inwood Journal, 28 Aug 1998
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An Open Letter to Loveline's Dr. Drew Pinsky. Several months ago, I wrote an Inwood Journal column about The Power of the Person in which I said, "We're glad to celebrate Drew's efforts here, but even more importantly we want to point to Drew as a clear and perhaps unexpected example of what we have dubbed "The Da Vinci Principle" -- the power of one person to profoundly change the world for all of us."
Since I like to "get it right," I spent several days researching you and the Loveline show before writing that column. I checked your credentials, read newspaper and magazine interviews and reviews, and browsed the many fan websites, of which one -- formerly called Dr. Drew's Loveline -- was the most mature, most complete, and best executed. I referred my readers to it for additional information.
Several days ago, I took my own advice and revisited the website to find out "what's new" with you and Loveline. To my surprise, I found this letter from your personal manager, Howard Lapides to the webmaster, Lisa in which it was demanded that "As per Dr. Drew and Adam I must ask you to immediately cease all activity using their name and likeness. Though we appreciate your support of both Adam and Dr. Drew you have no rights using their names and likeness." The letter backed up the demand with this threat: "If this request is ignored I will be forced to proceed with Legal action on behalf of my clients."
To my surprise I found Lapides' letter, but no website! Lisa had taken down her website -- as had several other webmasters of Loveline fan sites who reacted in fear or in sympathy with Lisa. In subsequent days, Lisa has reinstated her website with a new title -- "Unofficial site about Loveline with Dr. Drew and Adam Carolla" -- but without any pictures or sounds of you or Adam, I guess until she gets copyright permissions. The other webmasters have yet to reinstate their sites.
Now that Lisa's site is back up, I urge you to visit it (and -- for comparison -- the other fan sites you can find in her list of hyperlinks) and judge for yourself whether Howard Lapides acted in your best interests. I think you'll find that Lisa's website is a true "fan" site -- one that is not only harmless to you and your interests, but probably quite helpful! This is a frequently-updated and comprehensive fan site which is really a librarian's delight. It lists and/or links to virtually every resource that a fan could use to learn about you, Adam, and Loveline. The only thing wrong with this site is that it is so thorough and so well done that a visitor who didn't bother to read the many disclaimers might think it was the commercial site that KROQ or MTV should be producing about Loveline. But this is not a commercial website. It contributes not at all to its "anonymous" webmaster's fame or fortune; on the contrary it costs her a substantial amount of time and money to maintain it. (I call Lisa an "anonymous" webmaster because her website is about you. We only know her name because Howard used it in his letter!)
I'm sure others have written to you about Howard's letter. Some, I'm sure, have talked about freedom of speech, in general, and on the Internet, in particular. Others, perhaps have discussed the legalities, copyright issues, and what it means to be famous and loved. And I'd bet that a few have pointed out Howard's errors and wondered out loud why Howard picked on the best of the fan sites and ignored the rest. I'll leave that to others. I have two points two make as one professional to another:
Howard Lapides represents you. If you take the time to read his letter and to browse Lisa's fan site, you'll see his efforts diminish your stature as a mature, intelligent, compassionate professional. Howard serves his pocket, not your interests. His efforts will not nourish your career.
Howard's letter to Lisa should have been an invitation to discuss making Lisa's website into an official fan site. That would be in your best interests. You went on radio, and then TV, to take your message to the people who needed it. Now it's time to get on the Internet, where the next generation is growing up.
Since this is an open letter, I urge its readers to contact Dr. Drew Pinsky with their opinion. You can email him at loveline3@aol.com, the email address for MTV mail, or at loveline@earthlink.net, the KROQ-FM mail address. An even better way to get through: fax Dr. Drew at 1-310-854-4455. Or, if snail mail's your thing, write to Loveline, P.O. Box 4345, Hollywood, CA 90078.
August 30, 1998. Good news! As of today Lisa's unofficial website about Loveline with Dr. Drew is fully restored, and, in a show of class, Lisa has removed the text of Howard Lapides' bullying letter! Click on the banner below to see for yourself. But don't stop there. It would still be a great idea to email, write, or fax Loveline to urge them to extend their outreach to the world wide web!
