FoxNews.Com's Friedman Fired -- Er, Parts Ways

From: IMDB.com

By downloading and reviewing the pirated workprint of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Roger Friedman has lost his job as entertainment columnist for FoxNews.com. After issuing ambiguous statements concerning Friedman's status with the company, Fox News issued a statement Monday afternoon saying that it had met with Friedman earlier in the day and that they had "mutually agreed to part ways immediately." The statement made no mention of the controversy surrounding Friedman's review of the movie ("it exceeds expectations at every turn") or his seemingly tacit approval of online piracy. ("so much easier than going out in the rain"). Earlier, 20th Century Fox, while noting that Fox News is a separate entity within the News Corp family, had condemned the columnist's decision to download the film "whether the review is good or bad." At the Los Angeles Times website, entertainment writer Geoff Boucher commented, "The review was an audacious thing to do (or maybe just stupid) considering that 20th Century Fox, a corporate relative, had gone to the FBI to fight back against the theft and mass piracy."