Hot 97 Sues to Keep DJ Star Off Radio Rival

[musicradio77]

Here is an artice from the New York Post website:

HOT 97 SUE TO KEEP DJ STAR OFF RADIO RIVAL
By John Manelli

Radio station Hot-97 has gone to court to keep bad-boy DJ Star - whom it fired last year - from getting a new job in New York anytime soon.

Hip-hop rival Power 105 has been long rumored to want Star. He is currently employed by a Hartford station that is owned by Clear Channel, the same company that owns Power 105.

Star, aka Troi Torain, had killer ratings ay Hot 97 until he was fired early last year for, among other things, allegedly threatening to "cut the general manager.

Emmis Broadcasting, which owns Hot 97, claims Star's contract contains a still-valid non-compete clause - the length of which is now dispute.

"The non-compete was for a year, and I've been off the air [in New York] for well over a year," Star, 40, told the Post.

Star says Emmis tried to do a new deal with him earlier this year "for millions," but said he and Hot 97 couldn't come to terms.

"They obviously made the dtermination that if they can't get him, nobody can," said his manager, Wyatt Cheek.

Among other things, Emmis now claims Star bashed advertisers, "disparaged" artists at Hot 97 concerts, "appeared intoxicated" at one concert, gave illegal free plugs to a vodka he endorses, "physically assaulted" GM Barry Mayo - and then went right on the air to trash his bosses.

Emmis claims Hot 97 suffered "irreparable harm" with advertsers when Star mocked singer Aaliyah's death in a 2001 plane crash by playing crashing sounds and a woman's screams.

"They did everything they could to exploit that, including hiring an independent publicist," Star said.

"Everybody in the room was on the same page with that."

Emmis' Barry Mayo didn't return calls.

In a prepared statement, Clear Channel officials said they found it "Strange that Emmis believes it will now be irreparably injured" because Hot 97 fired Star 16 months ago.