Former NRG Media Lincoln air talent Jack Riggins is suing his successor, Dan Parsons, for defamation, two months after Parsons was cut by KLIN-AM. Parsons made the comments in question on social media in a press release detailing his March dismissal.
Both hosts held the afternoon drive time slot. Parsons was let go to make room for Drive Time Nebraska, hosted by life coach and former pastor Doug Fitzgerald, who had been a fill-in host at KLIN since 2021.
Riggins, who left KLIN in 2023, alleges that Parsons disparaged his personal and professional character after Parsons claimed that, “Riggins was fired by the station after an anonymous woman appeared live on the air and made an unsubstantiated claim of sexual assault against a Lincoln state senator who was running for another office.”
These unverified allegations were directed against Adam Morfeld, who was running for Lancaster County Attorney at the time. While Morfeld demanded a retraction, Riggins says he was never fired by KLIN and that he left due to a contract dispute.
Claiming to be a public figure, Jack Riggins will have to prove that Parsons made the alleged defamatory statements with intended malice and with the knowledge the claims were false.
General Manager Ami Graham told the Lincoln Journal Star that neither Riggins nor Parsons were employees of the station. Instead, both were contracted hosts who fulfilled the terms of their agreements and are no longer affiliated with the station.
Riggins is seeking unspecified damages.
As of May 10, Parsons said a Dan Parsons Show 2.0 announcement was imminent.
