Not that I wish that on anybody, but let’s be honest…almost 300 people got free (minus taxes) car and you just know one of them is going to total it sooner or later and you can bet that will be on all the news.
So do you think they will try to sue Oprah for “enabling” the accident to happen by providing them with the vehicle?
I don’t have a cite but you know that her lawyers have already figured that angle and the people who received the vehicles had to sign an ironclad waver disallowing Oprah from any liabilities if they choose to accept the car.
Boy, talk about looking at the negative…!
My shrewd guess: while signing tax forms, car titles, insurance papers and other documents, the car winners undoubtedly had to sign some sort of waiver release form absolving Harpo Producations and Pontiac from any liability resulting from an accident. It’s what I’d have my lawyers draw up from me if I were in Oprah’s shoes.
Letterman said something similar on his show tonight. He hoped that the cars all turned out to be like the Ford Pinto or something.
Did he really? That’s awful. Why would he say something like that?
I’m certainly not an Oprah fan, but why on Earth would he wish that on anyone? I fail to see the humour in that.
He’s still bitter about the “Uma…Oprah” joke falling flat.
Since game shows have been giving away new cars, boats, motorcycles and what-not for decades, not to mention stoves and other potentially hazardous prizes, and I’ve never heard of anyone being able to sue a game show successfully for injuries caused by use of a game show prize, my IANAL WAG is that such suits would be unsuccessful. If nothing else, Oprah’s lawyers would argue that they are no more liable for injuries caused by someone crashing their free car than an automobile dealership is liable for damages from cars they sell. Driving the car would be an intervening superceding act and there would be no direct causation between the gift of the car and the crash.
He said it in the context of a joke about the giveaway raising audience expectations, thereby creating additional anxiety and stress for Dave. Something about how it used to be that the audience was grateful if the studio was air-conditioned, or if there were snacks available… …but with Oprah giving away cars, the bar is raised just a tiny bit. (Exaggerated tugging at collar and grimacing.) Not so terrible, since clearly there’s no real pressure and he hopes no such thing.
No real complaints about tax burden yet, it seems.
Without knowing what the tax rates are in Alabama, how could they possibly owe $14,000 on the two cars, when the cars list at $18,000-$26,000 each? 20% of $36,000-$52,000 is $7,200-$10,400.
My guess would be that the additional $40k or so bumped them up a tax bracket, and they’re including the additional tax they’ll have to pay on their regular income.