29 Most Scandalous Game Show Hosts

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Dick Clark was Involved in the Payola Scandal

Source¨ https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net

Dick Clark was born on November 30, 1929 as Richard Wagstaff Clark. He was an American radio and television personality, television producer and film actor. Clark was most well-known as the host (and producer) of “the American Bandstand”. He hosted the show from 1957 to 1988. Clark did a lot of things, he was also the host of “The $25,000 Pyramid” (this later became “The $25,000 Pyramid”), and he also ran a successful production company. All of this however, almost came to an abrupt end.

As the host of “the American Bandstand”, he got caught up in some disreputable dealings. Sometime in the 1960s, the House Committee on Legislative Oversight (this was the congressional subcommittee investigating the Payola Scandal) investigated Clark during the “Payola Scandal”. The scandal was a particularly sleazy time in the history of the recording industry, when an elaborate system of illegal and quasi-legal kickbacks and ownership stakes were revealed. On May 2, 1960 at the Payola hearings, Clark would testify having an ownership stake in 33 record labels, manufacturers and distributors that earned a lot from the increase in popularity of artists that were made popular by him and his show. Artists such as Frankie Avalon, Danny and the Juniors, and Duane Eddy. Jamie Records was one such company, this was the label that made Duane Eddy famous, where Clark earned a profit of $31,700 on an initial $125 investment. Clark told Congress, “I think the crime I have committed, if any, is that I made a great deal of money in a short time on little investment. But that is the record business.” Several months prior, while following the direction of his network, Clark divested himself of all of his ownership interest in these music related businesses. Representative Oren Harris of Arkansas, concluded the hearing with the following statement, “I don’t think you’re (Dick Clark) the inventor of the system, I think you’re the product.” With this, Dick Clark became the most famous survivor of the Payola Scandal.