April
5 3 days, 3 statements: Roger Friedman, reprehensible. Fired over "Wolverine." Or not!

If you aren't up to speed on the fracas inspired by the "Wolverine" piracy/Roger Friedman review, click here. As to where things stand now? Depends who you ask!

On Friday, when Friedman posted his "Wolverine" review, this was blowback from 20th Century Fox:

We've just been made aware that Roger Friedman, a freelance columnist who writes Fox 411 on Foxnews.com - an entirely separate company from 20th Century Fox -- watched on the internet and reviewed a stolen and unfinished version of X-Men Orgins: Wolverine. This behavior is reprehensible and we condemn this act categorically -- whether the review is good or bad.

Then, as rumors circulated that Friedman's punishment had escalated from hand-slapping to neck-snapping, News Corp. released this statement late Saturday night:

Roger Friedman’s views in no way reflect the views of News Corporation. We, along with 20th Century Fox Film Corporation, have been a consistent leader in the fight against piracy and have zero tolerance for any action that encourages and promotes piracy. When we advised Fox News of the facts they took immediate action, removed the post, and promptly terminated Mr. Friedman.

Except! Friedman told Variety that he hasn't been fired. And while Fox News isn't ready to back him up, they're not ready to concede defeat, either. Yeah, Friedman's post basically acted as an Evite for anyone who hadn't seen "Wolverine" online already, but... Friedman's a brand-name draw for Foxnews.com. Can't we all just get along? So here's the Fox News stance as of Sunday afternoon:

This is an internal matter that we're not prepared to discuss at this time.

Three different News Corp. divisions, three different statements. This is the best reality programming the networks have seen all season.