HOENIG, CRAMER DUKE IT OUT
By BEN SILVERMAN
February 24, 2003 -- Just call it "Clash of the Pundits."
Hedge fund manager Jonathan Hoenig has filed a defamation lawsuit against James Cramer, the caffeinated founder of TheStreet.com and co-host of CNBC's "Kudlow & Cramer."
The suit, filed Friday in Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago, accuses Cramer and TheStreet.com of defamation, for "knowingly making false statements intended to harm [Hoenig's] reputation in his business as a financial advisor and commentator."
Cramer and TheStreet.com were not available for comment.
The suit relates to a Sept. 10, 2002, article published by TheStreet.com in which Cramer wrote, "Wouldn't it be terrific if I could be like Jonathan Hoenig, who on national television urged people to buy Kmart at a buck and change because, well, who the heck knows?"
Hoenig, a portfolio manager at Capitalistpig Asset Management, denies ever recommending that investors buy stock in Kmart, which went bankrupt in January 2002.
"I don't know why he made this comment, and that's what's frustrating," Hoenig said. "What makes this defamation is that Cramer's audience understands that anyone who recommended this stock is foolish."
Cramer and Hoenig have a combative history. Hoenig was a columnist for TheStreet.com three years ago, and he appeared on the company's Fox News Channel television show — but, Hoenig says, he was fired from TheStreet.com because Cramer was upset with comments he'd made in his columns.
Hoenig also says Cramer once hung up on him during a live radio interview.
(Hoenig still contributes to another Fox News Channel show, and had a book published by Harper Collins. Both Fox and Harper Collins are owned by News Corp., which also owns The Post.) |
