Home Miami TV A note about the Charles Perez case

A note about the Charles Perez case

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Many of you have been e-mailing us about the recent Charles Perez case, and alleged leaked e-mail. Allow us to explain a little why SFLTV hasn’t posted anything recently about the case. On April 4th, The Miami Herald published a story (which we will not link) discussing an alleged violent break-up of WPLG anchor Charles Perez, and his partner. The article explained that Charles has filed a petition in a Miami-Dade court for an injunction for protection against domestic violence. In this article, it also cites an alleged confidential e-mail that was supposedly leaked by his ex-partner. This e-mail (that was between Charles and his psychologist) depicted alleged psychological issues that frankly are personal, private, and by law, confidential. For this reason, SFLTV.com (unlike other websites and newspapers)  will not be posting any details about this case, nor will be following the story. If this disappoints you, put yourself in his position. There’s always Google if your curiosity kills you. Thanks for understanding…

27 COMMENTS

  1. since when did sfltv become the moral compass of tv news websites?? this is the same website that posts RUMORS & UNCONFIRMED TIPS all the time. and this is the same site that relishes when someone loses a job or gets fired. it is ridiculous to take a stand on this story. especially when the reports being mentioned have been published.

    • Indeed we have posted a false rumor a few times, and a false unconfirmed tip once (hardly all the time… but whatever) but this involves confidential information that was shared with a psychologist. I think we all can agree that it’s just wrong that this information was published in the first place, and I quite frankly, don’t want to be apart of it. Confidential conversations between a doctor and someone being canned from their job is quite different if you ask me.

      • I agree with TVNEWSER. I have seen storied of people who have been arrested. I think the latest was Rob Schmidt who had the issue with his girlfriend. This site spoke about it. It too was a personal issue.

  2. tvnewser… i disagree with you. i’ve been reading this blog for a few years now and i’ve never read anything that made me think anything was inappropriate. details over how someone lost a job can be uncomfortable, but it’s the same standard which we hold many public figures when we report it in the news.

    however, personal information between a patient and doctor (of any kind) is always confidential and it is never reported unless the patient himself/herself chooses to release that information. in Charles’s case, he did not choose to release this information and i truly feel sorry that his issues are out there.

    now to Alex… i have to wonder if you small mention of it now does further damage. because, i received the email, and when i read it i was confused for a moment but then i just thought it was a very bad joke by someone who was angry at Charles for whatever reason. i didn’t believe the email until i read this post on your blog. then i thought, “wait, was the email for real?”

    in any case, i’ll always love Charles and i hope that his close friends and family are with him in his apparent time of need.

  3. If I were the blogger on this site, I would want to keep the e-mail from being published, to further prevent public humiliation amongst a public figure, such as Charles. Alex did right by not publishing the e-mail. Yes, they may post false tips every now and then, but everyone is human, we all make mistakes, but on this topic, it’s irrelevant. The point I’m trying to get across, is that a conversation between a doctor and a patient being posted for the entire world to read is not only illegal, but unethical. Like Alex said, getting fired, and a confidential conversation between a doctor and a patient, are two completely different things.

    • It’s public record… it’s already been in the city’s major daily newspaper. You’re not saving anyone any emabrassment but not posting it on this joke of a blog. And if your goal was really not to bring it to light, why did you mention it at all?

  4. I tried to post the link to the Herald story but suddenly this site moderates comments? What a freakin’ double standard. If you want to see the story to the miami herald site and type the anchor’s name in the search box. It’ll come right up in the search results.

    • Anon, one again, your severe paranoia seems to be getting to you. We’ve always put comments with links in moderation to help fight spam . I’m sure people know how to Google… They don’t need your help, but thank you!

      7 Survivor… I see your point. By no means are we saying the e-mail is factual. We’re just saying it’s not something we’ll be discussing.

  5. Thanks to the mods of this site for asserting that the lives of individuals are more important than the thrill one may get over reading about what is a private matter.

    Court docs, and other matters of public record are just that, public record. That does not mean that any or every website, print media or other communication must print or some other way make them available. County websites (like Broward) have instituted policies which prohibit viewing certain public records. If you want to see them, go to the courthouse and request them.

    I am thankful that this site chooses to give a person the privacy s/he deserves.

  6. I Twittered Alex when I saw the story online, and I concur with your judgment 100%. How nice to find ethics on a website devoted to journalism!

  7. It is nice of you to choose not go into detail. But I agree with Anon in a way because i never heard about the Charles Perez case, but now that you mentioned it i’m sure other people will look into it. If you wanted to really respect his personal case you would have opted to not mention it.

  8. I agree with TVNEWSER. I have seen storied of people who have been arrested. I think the latest was Rob Schmidt who had the issue with his girlfriend. This site spoke about it. It too was a personal issue. And there are many more. I cant help but think that we are sensitive about this particular issue because it involves a gay relationship gone bad. I am not saying that was the intent, but I am inclined to think that way.

    I also agree that even raising the issue on this site opens the door to exactly what you tried to avoid. I didnt know about it until I saw it here. I am sure I am not alone.

  9. You cannot pick and choose what to cover if you want this site to be(stay) respected. Alex, you have done a good job covering whats going on in our biz but fair is fair and news is news. Cover it.

    This board has discussed the good and the bad of most of South Florida’s newsies, included the behind the scene folks. What makes Charles so special. You wrote about Rob Schmidt, you posted Jeff Burnsides mug shot and we all discussed Alicia Lane- talk about “confidential”e-mail, to name a few.

    Sorry, but I don’t agree with you on this one. But, hey, this is what makes our country great, right?

    • Look, I know for a fact that I would be receiving just as much flack if I had posted the story. I’m taking a stand about this, mainly because this was an alleged private conversation between his doctor and him. I really want all of you to just put yourself in his position. Not doing anything wrong what-so-ever, other then thinking you were having a confidential conversation with a doctor about a personal issue. Then, someone you once loved, comes along… hacks your e-mail… and sends it to what was described as “everyone.” Charles didn’t do anything wrong here. He didn’t (allegedly) beat his girlfriend, or potentially endanger the lives of thousands by driving drunk… He simply spoke with a doctor about what he was (allegedly) going through. Charles isn’t anything special to me… in fact, I didn’t even know he was gay until this all came out. I just simply was not going to post a huge story about it. The main reason why I posted anything at all was to say: “Hey, we know about what’s going on… you can stop the e-mails… Here’s the basic gist of what happened.” Frankly, I think this is horrifying that the The Miami Herald would publish it. A gossip blog, fine… but not a newspaper…

      Okay, I promise not to go on the defensive after this… I know a lot of you are going to disagree… But whatever… Like you said, beauty of America, right?

  10. LOL

    Of Course Charles is GAY. I mean he did date Norman from the Real WORLD the original and first SEASON EVER.

    HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLO SOMEBODY

  11. Just for full disclosure, are you friends with Charles? If you are then picking and choosing to cover something because of a friendship is unfair to the countless others who are posted on this site. Please clarify. I like Charles too but if there is a paper trail and there is a police report coverage is warranted otherwise you have deemed yourself ineffective as a blogger.

    • Sure – For full disclosure, I am not friends with Charles. I have never met Charles… I have never spoken to Charles… I have never e-mailed Charles. Like I said above, I didn’t even know Charles was openly gay until “admin” told me. Hope that clarifies things…

      Yes, you could say that in a case like this, coverage is warranted. But this involves the privacy of a man,who’s only mistake was to let his guard down… (or so it seems). The act of which these alleged e-mails were obtained is not only sickening, but is also illegal. If Charles hasn’t already, I would urge him to file a defamation of character lawsuit and sue the bastard for everything he’s worth…. allegedly.

  12. I wonder if this story still would have been suppressed if Charles was straight. I personally think that not publishing the letter was the absolute right thing to do, but if it had been a straight guy and his girlfriend, would it get the same respect from this particular site?

    • I assume you’re saying there’s some sort of bias for gay people on this blog?… Yes, we do have openly gay bloggers here… but it’s not a matter of gay or straight. It’s just a matter of privacy. I assure you, a straight man would have been treated the exact same way.

      Trust me, straight people don’t have to worry about discrimination from us 😉

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