June 9th, 1997. Geraldo Rivera’s namesake talk show asks if The Globe paid a woman $75,000 to sleep with Frank Gifford — did they enable prostitution and break the law?
“…its well known that Globe pays sources good money for accurate information, and that’s all we’ve said, everything else is speculation…”
This segment begins with the moral question of Frank Gifford’s affair with woman named Suzen Johnson. Is it wrong for a husband to cheat sometimes and should a wife forgive? Cindy Adams weighs in with crucial advice.
On to the more serious questions, involving perhaps entrapment or enabling prostitution, we hear from the the Globe editor Tony Frost and reporter Candace Trunzo. They admit to paying sources but make no comment on whether this woman was directly paid by the tabloid to have sex with Mr. Gifford. Chiming in and on the in-studio panel are celebrity divorce lawyer Raoul Felder, Court TV commentator Nancy Grace, Dr Joyce Brothers and ‘the only conservative here’ Susan Carpenter-McMillan. Most consider the Globe ‘slime’ for such a salacious 2 page story that they set-up, but Susan defends their right to do so.
The Globe’s setup and coverage of the Suzen Johnson affair became a news item all of it’s own, and she later sued the publisher. Frank Gifford, legendary player and American broadcaster, passed away in 2015.
This day, Geraldo’s television history.