SHORT TAKES : Doctors Would Cancel Leno Visit
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LA CROSSE, Wis. — Comedian Jay Leno was meant to be a treat for employees at a hospital preparing to celebrate its 100th anniversary.
But some Gundersen Clinic physicians say that the cost of his planned Feb. 2 appearance is too high and that the money should be donated instead to a community cause.
The comedian is said to draw $60,000 to $80,000 per appearance, but the clinic’s marketing director, Mark Thompson, said: “We got him for considerably less.”
Leno’s publicist, Dan Klores, contacted Wednesday in New York, declined to give a specific figure but confirmed that the Gundersen gig to entertain about 1,500 employees was far below the usual fee.
“Mr. Leno accepted the invitation of the hospital because of the wonderful work that they do,” Klores said.
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