MSNBC Fires Host Savage for Wishing AIDS on Caller

Yahoo! News ^ | July 7, 2003 | Ben Berkowitz

[El Conservador]

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Cable news channel MSNBC on Monday fired Michael Savage after the controversial talk show host wished AIDS (news - web sites) on a caller whom he dismissed as "one of the sodomites."

Savage had been under fire from gay rights groups since February when the network announced it had hired the conservative commentator to host a TV version of his popular talk radio show.

Saturday's episode of "The Savage Nation," his 15th since the program's debut in March, featured Savage discussing air travel with callers.

One caller began discussing his experiences, and after an unintelligible part of the call, Savage asked him "So are you one of those sodomists?"

When the caller said, "Yes I am," Savage, reclining in a chair with his arms folded and wearing dark sunglasses, responded, "Oh, you're one of the sodomites! You should only get AIDS and die, you pig!" in a clip of the show hosted on the Web site of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

An MSNBC representative was not immediately available to comment, but a source familiar with the matter confirmed that the show had been canceled.

GLAAD, which from the start campaigned against MSNBC's hiring of Savage, cheered the cancellation.

"Michael Savage's latest rant made the clearest possible case for why this kind of behavior has no place on any reputable news network," GLAAD spokeswoman Cathy Renna said in a statement.

In addition to his radio and TV show, Savage founded the Paul Revere Society, which advocates closing the U.S. borders, eliminating bilingual education and ending affirmative action programs.

A message left at a number listed for the Paul Revere Society in the northern California city of Mill Valley was not immediately returned.

Savage, who according to his biography on a network Web site holds a doctorate in epidemiology and nutrition science, hosted his unabashedly conservative show from the well-known liberal bastion of San Francisco.

A network source said the show had averaged 347,000 viewers through its first 14 airings, not including three weekends when the show was preempted by news coverage. It had aired Saturdays at 5 p.m. ET.

Savage was hired around the time the network canceled liberal talk-show host Phil Donahue, who in turn reportedly accused MSNBC of trying to "outfox Fox," a reference to Fox News Channel, often characterized as being conservative.

MSNBC is a partnership of the NBC unit of General Electric Co. and Microsoft Corp.

[oceanperch]

I think that was the slip MSNBC was waiting for.

From what I have read here at FR the tv show version did not meet up to their standards either.

Writing is his forte maybe.

[NYCVirago]

Have you even listened to his show today? He referenced that he knows that there were groups who wanted to see him off MSNBC.

Sure, there were groups who wanted him off the air. But with his terrible remarks, he handed them the ammunition to get him fired. And please don't spout Savage's nonsense about how he thought he was off the air. He was on a live television show -- what did he think was going to be on the air during his insane rant?

[Ken H]

.. someone with a mind.

Dr. Walter E. Williams?

[185JHP]

Plus, he doesn't need the money.

[weegee]

You've never seen a "Please Stand By" graphic or cut to a commercial when an interruption happens in the studio?

The sound from the call was dumped so someone was working the boards at the studio.

[raccoonradio]

Everyone, after you've seen that site:

"OK, I apologize--oh, and while I have your attention,
BUY MY BOOK!" :)

Hmm, funny, I've seen his TV show about 3 or 4 times and I don't remember him EVER plugging his book. I mean, he never held it up or read from it and talked about it or...Nope, never saw him do that at all (sarcasm off :P)

[Cacique]

Oh no, another Michael Savage thread !!

[NYCVirago]

You've never seen a "Please Stand By" graphic or cut to a commercial when an interruption happens in the studio? The sound from the call was dumped so someone was working the boards at the studio.

I've never seen one on any of the cable shout shows. Whether or not the sound of the call was dumped was irrelevant. Savage talked way too long not to know that he was on the air.

What cracks me up most about this situation is how he comes up with this ridiculous excuse, gives an apology, and his fans just eat it up. If Savage was really the tough talker that he claims to be, he wouldn't apologize, wouldn't make any excuses, and he would be proud of what he said. Compare and contrast this with Dusty Baker, who also made a controversial comment in recent days, but didn't backtrack one bit when he got heat for it.

[185JHP]

I'd like to see Laura Ingraham on a weekly TV show. "Automatic, systematic, fully-formed and in control."

[hellinahandcart]

I tried to watch his TV show, I really did. Twice.

It had the high production values of public-access cable, and Savage has a face for radio.

That said, MSNBC makes the worst programming decisions. I can't figure them out. They can Alan Keyes immediately and yet give Donahue months and months to drag their ratings further into the basement than they've ever been before; they hire Savage to pull in new viewers and then they put him on Saturday night, and on a shoestring too from the looks of the set and lighting. There's a reason this network is in last place.

[beaversmom]

A few weeks back I e-mailed Prager and told him since he wasn't running for Senate he ought to get his own TV show to reach the masses with his well thought out opinion. I didn't hear back from him though. I'd love to see Prager or Medved with a show.

[berserker]

Radio talk show host Michael Savage, shown in this undated handout photo, was fired Monday, July 7, 2003, by MSNBC. Savage, who did a weekend TV show for the cable channel, referred to an unidentified caller to his show Saturday, July 5, as a "sodomite" and said he should "get AIDS and die." "His comments were extremely inappropriate and the decision was an easy one," MSNBC spokesman Jeremy Gaines said. There was no immediate comment from Savage, according to a spokesman at his office inCalifornia. (AP Photo/Russ Weiner, HO, File)

[bootless]

If he were on RadioFR, I'd probably can him too. Regardless of what you think about homosexuals, wishing aids on them is like wishing sickle cell on a black American, breast cancer on a woman or a concentration camp on a Jew. It hits home, it hits hard and it is nasty.

BUMP.

[bootless]

Here's a test: Say the same thing to someone at your job, and see what happens.

That would be: Buh Bye.

Ever since Alec Baldwin said that, I have never - ever - watched another of his movies, and I won't pay another penny to support his career.

[Jorge]

Listeners who like Savage are hatemongers??? I believe you're on the wrong forum. DU is the LEFT turn.

Learn to read.
I said those who saw fit to defend Savage's depraved and meanspirited comments were hatemongers.

Savage himself even apologized for his comments...perhaps you think he belongs in the DU forum?

If you think one must openly wish terminal diseases on those they disagree in order to fit in this forum...you insult Freepers and degrade yourself.

[Jorge]

But that wasn't a talk show host, that was an advertiser (Benetton) who put forth those AIDS photos of Ronald Reagan. And the graphic designers who did the work said that they wouldn't wish AIDS on anyone yet they put the time into creating such vile work.

That took far more effort and money than Michael's off the cuff comment.

You're right. What was done to Reagan was a planned and deliberate act unlike Savage's remark.

By the way..it was the attacks on Reagan by these sorts of liberal hatemongering idiots...that convinced me to leave the Democrat party and become Republican.

Let's just hope Savage's remarks don't help Democratic recruitment efforts.

[raccoonradio]

The following is from the webpage of WRKO, Michael Savage's Boston affiliate, which took him off the air for a couple days (for the reason(s) below). Any other radio stations taking him off briefly, if not permanently, as a result
of the controversy? (For the record, the host filling in for Savage
on 'RKO took 2 hours of calls on the matter...)

from WRKO:
"Michael Savage

"Due to comments made by Michael Savage this past weekend on MSNBC, which clearly was inappropriate for an intelligent talk radio professional, Michael Savage has been temporarily suspended on WRKO.

"WRKO Program Director Mike Elder has been in contact with Savage's syndicator, getting their side of the MSNBC episode and making it clear that hate rhetoric is not what talk radio is all about and there is a line that can be crossed.

"It is our hope that Michael Savage will return to WRKO in the next few days. It is clear that these comments were not made on his radio show, but this is the same way we'd handle a similar situation with our local talent. This is not a free speech issue, but rather an issue of appropriateness and good corporate citizenship"