The authors of the speculative book “L.A. Confidential” paid Lance Armstrong's chief accuser for her interview, reports Outside magazine in an article posted on its website.
Reporter Joe Lindsey's long, detailed article published in the December issue looks at the various controversies surrounding Armstrong and doping allegations, specifically the charges in “L.A. Confidential.”
That book, and excerpts from it printed in the UK and France, are the subjects of libel lawsuits filed by Armstrong that could be resolved in the next six months. (Don't check Amazon; the book is not available in the US.)
In researching the article, Lindsey interviewed author David Walsh about Emma O'Reilly, the US Postal Service team soigneur in 1999 and 2000. In the book, she says the team manager Johan Bruyneel gave her a box of pills to deliver to Armstrong in while in Europe. She also said she applied make-up to syringe marks on Armstrong and discarded syringes for the team. Also, according to the Outside article:
O'Reilly alleges she was party to the forging of a backdated medical certificate that explained Armstrong's positive urine test for steroids, and she also alleges that, after that incident, Armstrong told her, “Emma, now you know enough to bring me down.”
It was one of the blockbusters in the book.
Despite telling VeloNews in 2004 that he didn't pay for any interviews, Walsh disclosed to Outside magazine that O'Reilly was paid for the interview in September 2003. Although she wasn't initially paid, Walsh said she later contacted him to complain that the book would be a success due to her interview, but she would get none of the benefits. She was paid $8,850.
I don't know how journalism works in France, or the UK for that matter, but I know that paying a subject for an interview is not the way to establish credibility. It's a joke. That's why so-called “checkbook” journalism is such a derisive term.
The Outside article also looks at Armstrong's lawsuit to get $5 million bonus owed to him by SCA Promotions, a sports-risk company in Texas.
Citing the latest EPO doping allegations against Armstrong, Lindsey wrote:
As happens whenever Armstrong is accused of anything, many of the reactions on both sides were characterized by greater certainty than the available evidence seemed to warrant.
That's the way it is with sports-hero celebrities like Armstrong, they instill strong emotions in followers. But if you think you want to bring one down, you better have more than circumstantial evidence and paid interviews.
Update: April 28, 2011 — Emma O'Reilly vents her anger at the media and Armstrong supporters in a comment to Bicycling.com. She also admits receiving a payment for her interview.
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