Tech & Biz

Leo Laporte throws Michael Arrington off the Gillmor Gang

by mbaumgartner | June 11, 2009 at 03:33 pm

2140 views | 0 Recommendations | 2 comments

Leo Laporte blew up at Michael Arrington and cut him (and the rest of the gang) off the set of the Gillmor Gang - Leo Laporte and "Friends" no longer. Leo Laporte called out Mike Arrington of TechCrunch after he implied that his opinion of the Pre was effected by the fact he had a free review unit. Of course if you call someone a "troll"... expect a Keyboard Cat to be close behind.

Laporte, Arrington and the Keyboard Cat
It was inevitable as soon as Leo Laporte threw Michael Arrington off the set that the Keyboard Cat would make an appearance. According to SCAN both videos are being passed around today on twitter. To save you the time, here they are in all their glory:

As an update to the story, Michael Arrington responded to the incident on the TechCrunch blog and gave a bit of background to his reasons for asking about the access to the Palm Pre. Also offering an apology for his remarks:

I ask Leo whether he bought the Pre or got it free and in advance of the launch, which I think is relevant because Palm is being very picky about who they give them out to. We were promised one but it wasn’t delivered. We suspect our critical coverage may be the reason (...)

(...) I’m sad that my professional relationship with Leo is apparently over. I apologize to you, Leo. I didn’t mean to imply that you were being unethical. I just think that, given the story that’s brewing about favoritism at Palm, it was important to disclose whether you paid for that Pre, and/or got it in advance.

2 See all footage | View Slideshow

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steroids online (not verified)

at 11:34 on August 24th, 2009

I think Leo and Mike have well-established reputations that they should not have to worry about, and Leo just takes such implications against his character much more seriously than I suspect Mike does. I think the reaction to the comment was a combination of many stressors, but is seeded in Leo's belief in, and adherence to stringent standards for his professionalism, and the products he reviews.

John Walker (not verified)

at 11:37 on August 24th, 2009

I'm not going to even look at this video. Because, taken out of context, a snippet of our lives, could make any of us look bad. Or call our sanity into question. I'm sure that Leo is under a lot of pressure right now. He's got his trip to China, coming up. And has to do a bunch of prep work for his podcast (or Netcasts) to carry on without him for a few weeks. Plus family stuff. You don't just drop everything, and go to China! So I'd cut him a good bit of lack for what might seem an over reaction, to some snide comment. And what difference would it make in the quality of the product, whether he personally bought it or not?! Would you buy a car, that worked crappy during the "test drive", but the dealer assured you it would work great after you paid for it? How is the product's short comings the consumer's fault, as a result of a pre-payment trail? I'd be upset at Arrington's lame logic, just on the face of it.Cheers