Jeffrey Wigand was a central witness in the lawsuits filed by Mississippi and 49 other states against the tobacco industry which eventually were settled for 246 billion. Wigand, former head of research and development and a corporate officer at Brown and Williamson, was a top scientist, the ultimate insider. No one like him had ever gone public before. Meanwhile, Lowell Bergman, investigative reporter and 60 Minutes producer, mostly for Mike Wallace segments, arranged a legal defense team for Wigand and taped the famous Wallace interview with its devastating testimony. However, before the most newsworthy 60 Minutes segment in years could air, Bergman would lose to a CBS corporate decision to kill it and would experience breakdown and bitter divisions within 60 Minutes. Wigand would find himself sued, targeted in a national smear campaign, divorced and facing possible incarceration. Wigand, having wagered so much and now unable to deliver his testimony to the American people, and
Paid |
iTunes
Length: 02:38:09 Posted: 1/1/2008
