Media | Falcon Heene ABC Nearly Paid Balloon Boy $10K Backed off when judge ruled family couldn't profit from hoax By Mary Papenfuss Posted Jan 11, 2010 3:00 AM CST Copied Richard and Mayumi Heene appear in district court in Fort Collins, Colo., after pleading guilty to charges stemming from the “Balloon Boy” hoax. (AP Photo/V. Richard Haro, POOL) ABC News was just about to pay the family of "balloon boy" Jason Heene $10,000 for a video of their stunt and an interview before a judge ruled last month that the family couldn't profit from their hoax. "ABC pulled the story because it didn't want the scrutiny," a source told the New York Post. NBC has recently come under heat for "pay-for-play" perks to news sources. After admitting as part of a plea deal that the balloon boy incident was a hoax, dad Richard Heene has since changed his story. Heene appeared on Today and Larry King's show last week to say he truly believed his son was in the balloon as it escaped into the sky. Read These Next House overwhelmingly votes to release Epstein files. White House says 186K dead people are receiving SNAP benefits. Trump implies tariff checks could arrive just before midterms. A spate of coverage suggests Trump's hold on the GOP is weakening. Report an error