Richard Prince has corrected his original item reporting that Tavis Smiley severed ties to Wells Fargo after an article by Mary Kane in the Washington Independent, which I posted on Monday, citing Prince's original report. In the article, Kane reported on allegations made by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan that Wells Fargo recruited Smiley specifically to target black borrowers with sub-prime loans. Smiley actually severed ties with the bank in 2007, when they were initially sued.
UPDATE: Mary Kane points out that, despite Smiley's insistence that he "severed ties" with Wells Fargo in 2007 he said this at the STOBU conference in February of this year:
In his latest statement, Smiley says he actually made that decision in“the first quarter of this year,” some time “shortly after the State ofthe Black Union” and announced it then in a statement he posted on his Website.
The undated pdf file, which was not issued as a press release, notesthat “Wells Fargo currently is not a sponsor of TSG or Tavis SmileyFoundation programs or events and will not be a sponsor for SOBU for2010.” Wells had sponsored the State of the Black Union 2009, which washeld on February 27-28. According to C-SPAN footage, Smiley lauded the bank at the symposium, telling the predominantly African American audience that “Wells Fargo is your financial action planning guide to every stage of life.” Later that day Smiley praised Wells Fargo for its generosity and said, “This conference is free this year because of Wells Fargo. Give them some love.”
Smiley wasn't exactly being accurate then, when he says that ties with Wells Fargo were "severed" in 2007.
-- A. Serwer
