Legendary Hollywood talent agency William Morris Endeavor has filed a lawsuit against CNBC anchor Amanda Drury over what it says was the failure to pay its commission. THR, Esq. has the details, which stem from a new contract with the network WME secured for Drury in 2010. The anchor dumped WME later that year for another firm.

“Ms. Drury terminated William Morris Endeavor nearly two years ago as a result of its failure to perform even the most basic services that any agency offers to its clients,” said John Rosenberg at Rosenberg & Giger, who represents Drury. “WME’s lawsuit is a desperate effort to extract an unwarranted payment from Ms. Drury, who is fully confident that she will prevail in the court proceedings.”

After the jump, our Media Beat interview with Drury about jumping from CNBC Asia to CNBC US.

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People across the country today participated in “Spirit Day,” wearing purple as a sign of support for LGBT youth. The movement, started by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, counted several visible people as champions of the anti-bullying cause: morning anchors, evening anchors and cable anchors on several networks were color-coordinated today.

On the morning shows:

On ABC’s “Good Morning America,” George Stephanopoulos and Robin Roberts participated, as did Ann Curry and Al Roker on NBC’s “Today.” All four co-hosts on “The View” — Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg, Sherri Shepherd and Elisabeth Hasselbeck — were decked out in purple as well.

After the jump, see who on the evening news and who on cable participated. Read more

In the wake of a 391-point market slide today, all three business networks are planning live primetime coverage tonight.

CNBC will be live from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. with a special report, “Markets in Turmoil,” anchored by Brian Sullivan and Amanda Drury.

Fox Business Network is live until 10 p.m. tonight. The network will air a special two-hour edition of “Lou Dobbs Tonight” from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.; that program will be bookended by “Cavuto” (anchored tonight by Charles Payne) at 6 p.m. and “America’s Nightly Scoreboard” with David Asman at 9 p.m. FBN will also be live at 5 a.m. tomorrow morning for an hour-long market special anchored by Ashley Webster and simulcast on Fox News Channel.

Bloomberg TV’s Adam Johnson and Lisa Murphy will co-host a special report at 8 p.m. called “Crisis of Confidence,” which will focus on the Fed’s actions this week and their impact on the global markets.

The Dow tumbled 419 points today, and that means the business networks are back at it tonight and into the morning with special coverage.

CNBC will have two hours of live coverage from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. anchored by Amanda Drury and Brian Sullivan. Suze Orman will contribute to the “Special Report: Markets in Turmoil” broadcast.

Bloomberg TV will also be live at 8 p.m. with “Markets on the Brink,” anchored by Adam Johnson and Lisa Murphy. The network will follow the special report with live coverage of the Asian markets opening from Bloomberg TV’s Hong Kong studios.

Fox Business Network will be live until 11 p.m. tonight, and back on the air at 5 a.m. tomorrow morning. Fox News Channel will simulcast the FBN programming from 5 a.m. – 6 a.m.

In the wake of a 500-point market selloff this afternoon, the business networks are planning extended coverage well into the evening tonight. On CNBC, Brian Sullivan, Simon Hobbs and Amanda Drury will anchor “Special Report: Markets in Turmoil” from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. David Asman will anchor coverage on Fox Business Network at 9 p.m. with a special edition of “America’s Nightly Scoreboard” called “Special Report: Market Selloff.”

CNBC is decked out in the Red, White and Blue today, in honor of colleague Mark Haines. Every Friday, Haines, who anchored “Squawk on the Street” would wear an American flag tie. Today, his colleagues, both on air and off, men and women, are wearing the colors of the flag in his honor. Some of the male anchors and reporters are below. The  female anchors, including Melissa Francis, Melissa Lee, Amanda Drury, and Michelle Caruso-Cabrera are also wearing American flag scarves. Haines, 65, died Tuesday.

(l-r, top) Simon Hobbs, Bob Pisani, Steve Liesman, Herb Greenberg, Brian Shactman, Joe Kernen, David Faber, Rick Santelli wear American flag ties in honor of Mark Haines

CNBC is going live in primetime again tonight for a “CNBC Special Report: Disaster in Japan” at 8pmET. The special pre-empts another airing of the Trish Regan documentary “Marijuana Inc: Inside America’s Pot Industry.” As we reported Tuesday, Regan is no longer with the CNBC. Tonight’s special is anchored by Bill Griffeth and Amanda Drury.

> Update: CNBC changed its mind. Marijuana, Inc. aired instead of the live hour re: Japan.

For the business news channels, daytime is where the bread is buttered, but for the 2010 midterm elections, they are all planning special primetime programming.

As one would expect, all three channels are bringing out their big guns for the night, with CNBC’s coverage being led by Maria Bartiromo, FBN’s by Neil Cavuto and Bloomberg TV’s by Charlie Rose.

CNBC will have live coverage from 7 PM to midnight, programming which it is calling “Decision 2010: Your Money, Your Vote. Maria Bartiromo and Carl Quintanilla will anchor until 11 PM, with Tyler Mathisen and Amanda Drury taking over from there.

Guests will include business leaders and political insiders, including former GM vice chairman Bob Lutz, former Continental Airlines CEO Gordon Bethune, former Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and former Labor Secretary Robert Reich.

And yes, Rick Santelli, who famously coined the phrase “tea party movement,” will be providing special commentary throughout the night.

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Just good-natured fun or are things getting a little nasty at CNBC now that Melissa Francis returned from maternity leave?

This afternoon, Dealbreaker posted an email purportedly from Francis to editor Bess Levin regarding her temporary on-air fill-in Amanda Drury. It read:

Subject: I’m back!

Hope I can fill Mandy’s… shoes!

CNBC brought Drury over from CNBC Asia this spring to be a dayside anchor. Australia native Drury is based out of Sydney and Singapore. Her first assignment for CNBC U.S. was to sit in for Francis on “The Call.”

Larry Kudlow and Trish Regan welcomed Francis back today at the top of the show. She thanked her co-hosts and joked about her time away, saying “What the heck happened? I left at the beginning of May, the market went to hell in a hand basket. I hope everyone is not blaming Australia — I meant Greece. Not Australia. Anyway…”

CNBC anchor Melissa Francis gave birth to a baby boy, Greyson Alexander Thorn, last evening. While she is out on leave, the network announced yesterday that Amanda Drury, who is joining the U.S. team from CNBC Asia, will fill-in.