Controversial slapping contest halted26 March, 2005 by mandeep
An Albany, N.Y., radio station has been ordered to stop its controversial "Smackfest" contest in which women wallop each other in the face.
The smacking sometimes draws blood.
The State Athletic Commission warned WQHT-FM, also known as Hot 97, its "Smackfest" smacks of an illegal boxing match, a criminal misdemeanor in New York, carrying a possible $10,000 fine, the New York Post said Friday.
A spokesman for N.Y. Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, also looking into the matter after a request from a half-dozen City Council members, said, "There is a state law designed to protect people from potentially dangerous and demeaning competitions, (and) we are trying to determine whether Hot 97 is complying with that law."
"The Smackfest promotion has already been shut down, and we do not believe it violated the law in any way," said Jeffrey Smulyan, chairman of parent company Emmis Communications. "In fact, hundreds of consenting adults signed up."
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