Fire And Ice-T

The 1,100 shareholders who crammed into Time Warner's annual meeting, held this year in Beverly Hills' Regent Beverly Wilshire, had more than financial statements on their minds. Police representatives and other critics blasted the company for releasing black rapper Ice-T's Body Count album and its Cop Killer cut, which contains such lines as "Die Pig, Die!" During the five- hour session, actor Charlton Heston denounced Time Warner for, among other things, shipping the compact discs to radio stations in miniature body bags. (A company spokesman said the bags were in keeping with the theme of the album, which includes cuts warning about the dangers of drug use and gang warfare.)

Gerald Levin, Time Warner president and co-chief executive officer, said the firm would not pull the album, which he described as "depicting the despair and anger that hang in the air of every American inner city, not advocating attacks on police." He said Time Warner would sponsor a TV forum for artists, law-enforcement officials and others to discuss such topics as racism and free speech. Levin also said the company was declaring a 4-for-1 stock split and increasing its dividend 12%.