But on the radio that night Walter Winchell offered a blind item: "The top television comedienne has been confronted with her membership in the Communist Party." Despite guarantees, someone had leaked the news that Lucille Ball had been before HUAC. The next day the Arnazes woke to find a reporter and a photographer camped in their front yard. At noon the Herald Express hit the stands with an extra: the paper carried a four-inch banner: LUCILLE BALL A RED. Under it was a photostat of the 1936 card indicating Lucille Ball's intention to vote the Communist Party ticket. The feeding frenzy had begun.

On several occasions Desi had met J. Edgar Hoover at the Del Mar racetrack. Now Desi imposed on their acquaintanceship with a phone call. He explained the situation as best he could and asked if there were any other nasty surprises in Lucy's FBI file. Hoover had already checked it. "Absolutely nothing!" he declared. "She's one hundred percent clear as far as we're concerned." With that assurance, Desi felt free to call Frank Stanton, head of CBS in New York, warning that a scandal was about to break and that there was not a shred of truth in it. "I am so goddam mad, I'm going to fight this like I've never fought before," Desi told him. The phone rang non-stop that afternoon, and Desi was selective about whose calls he would take. Later he confided to Lucy that he had spoken to columnist Hedda Hopper. "I told her that the only thing red about you is your hair, and even that's not legitimate." "You 'dint' " said Lucy, and as soon as she made fun of his accent, Desi knew she had regained enough humor and equilibrium for his next move.