TheStreet.com Sued for Abandoning Fox Deal

Fox News sued TheStreet.com for pulling out of a deal to co-produce a show for the cable news channel. In the suit, Fox also accused Jim Cramer, the co-founder and largest shareholder of TheStreet.com, of breaking a separate agreement requiring him to make a minimum number of appearances on the show. It was the latest skirmish in an escalating fight between Fox, a subsidiary of News Corp., and TheStreet.com. Last week TheStreet.com announced it was pulling out of the TV deal, saying Fox had publicly maligned the company. The ill will dates to an April 15 installment of the Fox show in which Cramer recommended shares in TheStreet.com, in which he owns a 13% stake, as a “good buy” to viewers. Fox took exception with the remarks, and said it disapproved of “the touting of stock for personal gain on the air,” even with full disclosure that Cramer was a large shareholder of TheStreet.com. A spokesman for TheStreet.com declined to comment on the lawsuit, which was filed in the New York State Supreme Court.