Posted on 07/18/2006 6:54:47 PM PDT by PajamaTruthMafia
DePetro pulled off air for slur, #2-2692 By Jessica Heslam Boston Herald Media Reporter
Tuesday, July 18, 2006 - Updated: 08:13 PM EST
Shock jock wannabe John DePetro has been yanked off the air for two days and ordered to apologize for calling embattled Big Dig chief Matt Amorello a “fag” yesterday on his morning radio show.
“This corporation has zero tolerance for racial intolerance. Mr. DePetro has 72 hours to think about it,” said Jason Wolfe, vice president of programming at WRKO (680) and WEEI-AM (850).
DePetro referred to Amorello - who is married to a woman - as “Fag Matt.”
“And I don’t mean gay fag, I just mean the way when you’re a sophomore, juvenile, in grammar school and somebody would say you’re like a sissy boy fag,” DePetro said on-air. “I don’t mean gay fag. I mean like sissy boy. He’s a little sissy boy. Wife wears the pants.”
Amorello, who has faced calls for his resignation since last week’s deadly Big Dig tunnel collapse, declined to comment on DePetro’s remarks.
But the radio host’s comments incensed gay advocates. “It’s extremely offensive. It’s childish. It’s incendiary,” said Emily Pitt, ofFenway Community Health.
“As far as I know, Matt Amorello is not a gay man, but even if he were, it’s just ridiculous,” said Pitt, who didn’t hear DePetro’s show but received e-mails about it.
“It’s pathetic,” added Massachusetts Sen. Jarrett T. Barrios (D-Cambridge), who is openly gay.
Wolfe was program director at WEEI in 2003 when co-hosts John Dennis and Gerry Callahan were suspended for two weeks for comparing an escaped gorilla to an inner-city Metco student.
DePetro, who is suspended and off the air today and tomorrow, did not return a call. It’s unclear whether he will be docked two days’ pay.
A spokeswoman for the Federal Communications Commission said yesterday they can’t comment on whether a complaint was filed.
Last month, Chicago White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen was fined and ordered to attend sensitivity training for calling Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti a “fag.” Guillen later apologized.
During January, February and March, DePetro’s 9 a.m. to noon show was tied for 18th place with Worcester’s WXLO-FM among the coveted group of 25 to 54-year-old adults, according to winter ratings, the latest figures available.
Matt keeps his job after essentially killing a woman through his negligence. (We all know that a Democrat in Massachusetts can keep his job after killing a woman.) But call a man an anti-gay slur, and then whoo boy Boston erupts in outrage and heads must roll. Maybe if that three ton concrete block had fallen on some gay South Enders, Boston would summon the requisite outrage to push Matt out. Good thing Bostonians have their priorities "straight" so to speak. They'll fix this Big Dig thing right quick.
Oh, wait a minute. I forgot. John "The Breck Girl" Edwards was right -- we live in Two Americas.
What do you mean saying Heinz to head up a commission to investigate the Big Dig? Have not seen that anywhere- provide link? BTW if you are really in Singapore Love where you are- have great pants made there and the night life is fantastic.
I dunno...posting without reading the thread...sun was in my eyes...gravity...something in the water...its been raining a lot...I dunno...
>>racial
Since when is this racial?
It is OK for Ray Davies to use the word when he's talking about cigarettes (Brit. slang) in "A Well Respected Man".
"And he likes his fags the best."
Jay Severin has gotten away with referring to people as "nancy boys" (sissies). btw Jay also refers to gay marriage as "homosexual marriage" as he feels "gay" is a synonym for
"happy" (disregards the slang meaning)
from Boston Radio Watch:
"WRKO AM 680's midday talk show host John DePetro has been suspended by Boston's AM talk station for the comments he made on his show earlier today. Conservative DePetro was put on ice after making disparaging statements about Mass. Turnpike Authority Chairman Mat Ammorello (sp!) on his 9am-Noon program. DePetro, like the rest of WRKO's local line-up, has been extremely critical of MTA's chief following the ceiling collapse of the I-90 connector last Monday night. The remark that got DePetro in the penalty box was his reference to Amorello as "fag Matt". WRKO's popular afternoon driver Howie Carr calls Amorello "fat Matt".
"A veteran talk radio source compared the severity of DePetro's crime and punishment to the infamous METCO flap courtesy of WEEI's "Dennis and Callahan" morning show back in the fall of 2003 : ""Stupid thing to say sure but this hardly rises to the level of METCO or what you can hear (any morning) on FM radio". "Dennis and Callahan" were suspended for two weeks.
"DePetro's 2-day suspension will run through Thursday(7/20) which ironically happens to be the day when Arbitron ratings for the spring survey period will be released. According to the Herald report, DePetro's show was tied for 18th place with the suburban music station WXLO-FM during winter months.
"DePetro has been hosting WRKO's early midday program since August 2004. While his suspension is in effect, the midday slot is being fronted by WRKO's bencher and Radio Equalizer blogger Brian Maloney who confirmed the fill-in assignment on his blog. As of this writing, DePetro didn't return BRW's request for a comment on his suspension."
>>DePetro's show was tied for 18th place with the suburban music station WXLO-FM during winter months.
Better to have local than syndie in a town like Boston, but is Glenn Beck warming up in the wings?
by the way, some groups are trying to de-fang "derogatory" terms by actually USING them. Many dwarves
don't like the term midget, yet some short statured wrestlers proudly use the term Midget Wrestling.
There are groups like Queer Nation...a rap group called itself NWA, N------ With Attitude, and some
black people use the "N-word" as a term of endearment.
this is news to me...I work nights and only now am hearing about it!
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