Toby Keith didn’t know his interview would air on Sarah Palin show, either, his rep says

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Sarah Palin’s new show on Fox News is still a day away from premiering, but it’s already making headlines. First, rapper LL Cool J accused the network of misleadingly repurposing a 2-year-old interview he did with the network and including it in the program, called “Real American Stories.” And now a representative for country music star Toby Keith said he didn’t know he was going to be part of the program.

Earlier this week, Fox News billed Keith as one of the prominent figures, including LL Cool J and former General Electric Chief Executive Jack Welch, who would be featured in the premiere episode Thursday evening.

But Elaine Schock, a spokeswoman for Keith, said the interview was conducted in early 2009 and that he was unaware that it was going to run on a show hosted by Palin. “I don’t have a problem that it’s airing,” she said, noting that Fox has a right to use the footage. “I’m concerned they didn’t call me. We would have liked to have known.”

Fox News said a producer e-mailed Schock on Monday to alert her to the segment. (The Times has seen a copy of the e-mail.) Schock said she never received it.

The interview with Keith focused on his song “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)” and his USO tour and “had nothing to do with Sarah Palin,” Schock said. On the show, Palin narrates the segment, according to the blog Mediaite, which obtained an early look at the episode.

-- Matea Gold