Emmis Execs in Smackfest trouble? NY POST

POLS WANT TO SMACK HOT 97By PHILIP RECCHIA

Hot 97 may be in hot water again — this time for running a contest in which women smack each other in the face to win big bucks.Six City Council members have asked state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer to throw the book at the controversial hip-hop station, WQHT/97.1 FM for airing "Smackfest," which they say violates a state law prohibiting unlicensed fights.Launched last year, the show featured women striking one another in the face to compete for a grand prize of $5,000.The pols say such violence is illegal under a law that bans combative events other than boxing, sparring, wrestling and martial arts.Although "Smackfest" was canceled last month due to short staffing, videos of the contest remain active on Hot 97's Web site.In one match, a female contestant dubbed "Kemeisha" of Queens took on "Ray Ray" of Brooklyn.Halfway through the event, Hot 97 DJ Ebro Darden stopped the brutalities, saying, "We got mouth blood" — only to bring the women back moments later for more beatings.The council members say Spitzer should prosecute Jeff Smulyan, CEO of Hot 97's parent company, Emmis Communications, and other Emmis execs "with the appropriate criminal and civil charges for such violations."The complaining council members are John Liu, Charles Barron, Letitia James, Diana Reyna, Robert Jackson and Leroy Comrie.Spitzer's office declined to comment.But Emmis spokesman Alex Dudley said: "There is nothing illegall.