Cable giants pull dinner sponsorship

Comcast and Time Warner Cable said Thursday they are withdrawing financial support for a dinner honoring FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, a regulator who is reviewing the companies’ multibillion-dollar merger.

The two companies were both set to sponsor next month’s Walter Kaitz Foundation Dinner — at a cost of $110,000 for Comcast and $22,000 for Time Warner Cable — where Clyburn is set to receive the foundation’s “diversity advocate” award. The planned sponsorship, first reported by POLITICO on Monday, raised a red flag for the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which said the timing was “curious.”


“We wanted to let you know that we are withdrawing our support for the annual Walter Kaitz Foundation dinner. We also request that there be no recognition of Comcast at the dinner,” Comcast Vice President for Community Investment Charisse Lillie wrote in a letter to the foundation.

Both Comcast and Time Warner Cable said they will instead donate to the foundation at the same level in a more general capacity. Comcast will make an “unrestricted contribution” of $110,000 “so that the Foundation can continue its important work,” Lillie wrote.

Comcast on Monday disputed the notion that it was “currying favor” with Clyburn and said it has sponsored the dinner for several years. Lillie said the decision to support this year’s dinner was made in 2013 before honorees were named. This is the first year that a sitting FCC commissioner is being honored.

“We do not want either [Commissioner Clyburn] or Kaitz to fall under a shadow as a result of our support for diversity in the cable industry, which is why we are withdrawing our support for the dinner,” Lille wrote.

Time Warner Cable informed the foundation of its decision via phone call, spokesman Bobby Amirshahi said.

“It’s unfortunate that our long-standing sponsorship of this fundraising event dedicated to advancing diversity in cable has been mischaracterized by a few. We are re-directing our giving from the Kaitz dinner to the Foundation’s unrestricted funds to support their programs. TWC will not be recognized as a sponsor,” he said in a statement.