EA Warns Off Thompson Regarding Take-Two Acquisition

In an email sent to Gamasutra by Electronic Arts, the publisher has openly rebuffed a plea from infamous attorney Jack Thompson to give legal aid to EA to "evict the Zelnick Trojan Horse from within Take-Two’s corporate walls." In the curiously worded email sent to EA's shareholders, as well as CNN's Lou Dobbs and a number of Fox News commentators, Thompson laid out a scene in which Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick - who is resisting Electronic Arts' attempts to take over the Grand Theft Auto publisher - had personally told Thompson "he would use Take-Two to continue to market and sell its adult video game products to children." "Strauss Zelnick is not a 'Boy Scout' as he actually hilariously described himself in The Wall Street Journal this week," commented Thompson in his letter. "Strauss Zelnick is a 'Boy Scout' like Jeffrey Dahmer was a gourmet cook. Zelnick proved that with his Take-Two golden parachute scam." In its kindly worded response forwarded to Gamasutra, an EA representative said simply, "In response to your offer to assist in the proposed acquisition of Take-Two, we would strongly prefer that you not get involved in this matter." "EA is a strong supporter of creative freedom for game developers," the letter concluded. "We feel that your past statements – including false claims about content in our games – make any collaboration with you impossible."