Sext in the City

l (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The 53-year-old head of Hearst Entertainment & Syndication has resigned over a sexting scandal involving a stripper, the New York Post reported this week.

Scott Sassa, who oversaw Hearst's interests in ESPN, Lifetime and other entities, stepped down after steamy messages he purportedly exchanged with a Los Angeles ecdysiast were forwarded to Hearst executives. The Post reported that the exotic dancer and her boyfriend sent the raunchy material, which included explicit images, because Sassa, a single parent, refused their payoff demands.

Sassa, whose resume includes high-ranking posts with Fox, NBC and Marvel Entertainment, was reportedly shown the door by Hearst leadership, including CEO Frank Bennack, Jr. and David Carey, president of Hearst Magazines. The Post article characterized the company once headed by the iconic William Randolph Hearst as conservative and strait-laced and, therefore, shocked by Sassa's alleged transgression.

From the "what-happens-in-Los Angeles-stays-in-Los Angeles" perspective of  the "TUOL" staff, however, it seems as if Sassa employed technology to satisfy his prurient interests, whereas William Randolph Hearst used the technology of his day to push the nation into the Spanish-American War. Terms of Sassa's severance package were not disclosed in the article, but "TUOL" suspects he'll have enough discretionary income to cover any lap dance expenditures.