PALIN’S TV SHOW STIRS A TO-DO BEFORE IT DEBUTS

Even though Fox News’s new program hosted by Sarah Palin had the rather vapid title Real American Stories, many suspected that it would nonetheless generate the kind of friction for which the former Republican vice-presidential candidate is known. As it turned out, controversy over the program, which is scheduled to debut tonight (Thursday), has already erupted as it emerged that at least two celebrity interviews that were due to be included were actually conducted more than a year ago — and neither was conducted by Palin. After rapper/actor LL Cool J complained on his Twitter feed about his inclusion in the show and being featured in promotions for it, Fox issued a statement saying that the interview with him would be dropped. Another interview with country singer Toby Keith (“Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue”) turned out to be more problematic. Keith’s hit song has become a kind of anthem for some conservatives and pairing the singer with Palin would appear to define what Real American Stories is all about. But on Wednesday, Elaine Schock, a spokeswoman for Keith, told the New York Times that she had never been informed that the singer was going to appear on the program. “Fox has never contacted me — not now, not when they were putting this together, not at all,” she said, “I have no idea what they’re using.” A Fox News executive, however, insisted that a producer for the show had notified Schock by email, about plans to include the Keith interview in the show. Schock told the newspaper that she had checked her emails and found no recent ones from Fox.