ABC, CBS, and NBC's morning and evening newscasts punted on covering an openly-homosexual pastor dropping his lawsuit against Whole Foods on Monday, after accusing the grocery chain of including the word "fag" on a cake he ordered from a location in Austin, Texas in April 2016. Jordan Brown disclosed that "the company did nothing wrong" in a statement, and apologized to the "LGBT community for diverting attention from real issues." By contrast, CNN's New Day on Tuesday devoted a news brief to Brown "admitting the company did not actually decorate the cake that way." [video below]
It should be pointed out that the Big Three networks all covered the hoax on their websites. Alex Johnson reported on the end of the lawsuit in an article posted on NBCNews.com on Monday evening:
Jordan Brown, pastor of the nondenominational Church of Open Doors in Austin, filed his suit last month after he drew national attention for a photo he shared of the cake, which was decorated with the inscription "LOVE WINS" — followed by an anti-gay epithet — in blue icing....
In response, Whole Foods Market Rocky Mountains/Southwest filed a countersuit seeking $100,000 in damages for what it strongly insisted was a false accusation...it even posted store video showing Brown, in an orange T-shirt and jeans, routinely paying for the cake at the register, even though the alleged slur should have been easily visible through the box's clear plastic window....
On Monday, Brown released a statement apologizing not only to Whole Foods and the bakery worker, but also to "the LGBT community for diverting attention from real issues," the media, his partner, his family, his church and his attorney, Austin Kaplan....
Whole Foods said in a statement that it was "very pleased," adding: "Given Mr. Brown's apology and public admission that his story was a complete fabrication, we see no reason to move forward with our counter suit to defend the integrity of our brand and team members."
CBSNews.com also ran an article on Brown's statement on Monday evening. The following morning, ABC News posted the Associated Press's write-up on the story on their website.
The transcript of anchor Chris Cuomo's 25-second news brief on the lawsuits, which aired on CNN's New Day on May 17, 2016:
CHRIS CUOMO: An openly-gay Texas pastor is dropping a lawsuit against Whole Foods. Jordan Brown had accused the grocery store of selling him a cake decorated with an anti-gay phrase. But the pastor is now apologizing to Whole Foods and the LGBT community, admitting the company did not actually decorate the cake that way — Whole Foods also agreeing to drop a $100,000 countersuit.
