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Article Excerpt
Byline: Juliana Shallcross
Randolph Steven "Steve" Webster, the former VP of publicity for FX Networks, walked into a Los Angeles courtroom late last month surrounded by his family and wearing a sharp black pinstripe suit. Over 6 feet tall with strawberry-blonde hair, he had the look of a laid-back California guy, hardly the typical picture of a criminal. But this was a man who in September, three years after losing his job at FX, had pleaded no contest to one count of felony wiretapping for illegally listening in on business conference calls made by his former employer.
During the hearing, Mr. Webster, 38, sat quietly, looking back and forth between the judge and the attorneys. At times, he wrung his hands and kept his head down. As discussions ensued Mr. Webster began to shed tears, prompting the judge to dispense tissues to the defense table.
In the back of the courtroom sat his wife, his mother and mother-in-law. A lawyer for FX's parent company, News Corp., sat in the front row, a visible reminder of the company Mr. Webster had wronged.
This was supposed to be Mr. Webster's sentencing, after an earlier delay. The L.A. County district attorney's office was recommending two years in state prison, while his defense team was asking for probation. Dueling between the prosecution, led by Deputy District Attorney Jeff McGrath, and the defense, headed by former Assistant U.S. Attorney David Scheper, continued that morning before Judge Norman Shapiro. Faced with conflicting views and a mountain of paperwork to study, the judge once again delayed sentencing, this time until Jan. 4.
As a red-eyed Mr. Webster talked with his lawyers and family outside the courtroom, the image was markedly different from his former image as a powerful publicity executive nicknamed "The Mayor" for his numerous contacts and wide network of relationships.
While some of the story has been reported in the press or whispered along the industry grapevine, this report is the untold, behind-the-scenes story as set forth in documents filed in court by the prosecution and defense. Those papers include and summarize documents, e-mail and other material collected during a search of Mr. Webster's home and offices. The documents are now part of the public record.
Even for the entertainment industry, it is a twisted tale. The story has all the elements of a scandal: jealousy, broken promises, revenge and poor judgment. But it is also the cautionary tale of how a seemingly decent man, a highly compensated, well-regarded executive at a major entertainment company, could get caught up in a power struggle and fall from grace in a relatively short time.
A Tale of Two Tales
The prosecution and defense told differing stories of why it happened. In court and in the public documents, each side revealed its account of a business relationship gone terribly wrong, and how events played out.
The prosecution, in nearly 150 pages of evidence, depicted the defendant as a man who was obsessed with his former boss, Peter Liguori, the president and CEO of FX Networks, and sought revenge when the relationship floundered. It charged that Mr. Webster engaged in corporate espionage by taking confidential corporate information discussed in private conference calls and doling it out to various members of the media, including TelevisionWeek Senior Reporter James Hibberd and News Editor Melissa Grego. Ms. Grego has known Mr. Webster professionally and as a friend since they met in 2000, while she was a reporter for Variety.
The defense painted its client as a man weakened by a physically and verbally abusive employer. It maintained that even though Mr. Webster confessed to wiretapping, he is not guilty of corporate espionage.
Mr. Webster, through his lawyer, declined comment for this story.
Mr. Webster's story begins in Reno, Nev., where...
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