Savage Fired After Anti-Gay Remarks to Yolo County Man

Sacramento Bee ^ | July 8, 2003 | J. Freedom duLac

[republicofdavis]

Bob Foster, the rural Yolo County man who has taken to terrorizing TV and radio shows with prank phone calls, says his hobby "is all about getting a reaction."

But this may be more than he bargained for. On Saturday, Foster called Michael Savage's live MSNBC show to mention a favorite radio duo, Don and Mike.

Savage was apparently not amused and made a series of homophobic comments to Foster on the air.

On Monday, news broke that the controversial broadcast personality had been fired by MSNBC. And it wasn't long before Foster began to feel the wrath of Savage fans, who have taken to the Internet to spew invective his way.

"I've been getting so much hate e-mail from the Savage Nation," Foster says. "It's kind of frightening, actually. People are saying, 'Look behind your back.' And they're making anti-gay statements.

"I'm not gay. But they're calling me derogatory gay names. It goes on and on. They're disregarding what Savage said and putting the blame on me for him losing his job. It's ridiculous.

"I don't like to see a guy lose his job. But he made a mistake. His comments were way out of line."

The comments in question came after Foster called and began telling Savage about a flight he took from New York.

"Half-hour into the flight," Foster is heard saying on a tape of the incident, "I need to suggest that Don and Mike take your (inaudible) ... 'cause your teeth are real bad."

Savage fumes at the remarks and says:

"Oh, you're one of the sodomites. You should only get AIDS and die, you pig. How's that? Why don't you see if you can sue me, you pig? You got nothing better than to put me down, you piece of garbage? You've got nothing to do today? Go eat a sausage and choke on it. Get trichinosis."

Savage then asks to speak to a caller who "didn't have a nice night in the bathhouse who's angry at me today. These bums mean nothing to me."

During the exchange, somebody off-camera in Savage's studio can be heard gasping.

MSNBC spokesman Jeremy Gaines says Savage was fired immediately after the broadcast.

"In reaction to a hostile caller, Savage made an extremely inappropriate comment," Gaines says. "The decision to cancel the program ('Savage Nation') was not difficult."

Savage remains on the radio, where his show is syndicated in more than 200 markets -- including Sacramento, where it airs on KSTE (650 AM).

KSTE's operations manager, Ken Kohl, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Savage, too, has been unavailable for comment.

But Foster was readily available to talk about Savage, whose TV show he'd phoned once before.

"I called him a racist that time, and he went off," Foster says. "It was such an overwhelming reaction, I had to do it again.

"Some people think I was out to get him. But I wasn't. I'm a talk-radio fan. I appreciate what he does, despite his opinions. But he was taking phone calls on national TV, and I wanted to mention Don and Mike."

Foster, who has prank-called everybody from Larry King to Don Imus, says while the response from Savage fans has been brutal ("They hate me," he says), he's also received more than a few words of support.

"I've actually gotten more mail in favor of what I did," he says. "I've been getting a lot of thank-you mail from gay-rights advocates.

"Savage definitely has issues with the gay-rights movement. What I said had nothing to do with gays. He just interjected that. He has a lot of gay protesters, and I think that was on his mind."

Cathy Renna of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation says that with gay issues in the forefront of the national news, "Savage's behavior and his attacks violate even the minimal journalistic standards and have no place on a reputable news network like MSNBC."

Savage was hired by MSNBC in early March. His Saturday talk show boosted MSNBC's ratings marginally in the 2 p.m. time slot, but in 14 outings it still ran a distant third to shows on Fox News and CNN.

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About the Writer ---------------------------

The Bee's J. Freedom du Lac can be reached at (916) 321-1115 or jdulac@sacbee.com. USA Today contributed to this report.

[Lijahsbubbe]

LOL. Nothing like ratcheting up the rhetoric. I really did mean to type death wish, guess I got caught up in the drama!

[CobaltBlue]

I am not a big talk radio fan but my husband likes to listen to them all, and when the kids are with him, and I am not, they get an earful. I never listened to Michael Savage until last week - I thought it was so over-the-top and abusive that I had my hands over my ears trying to keep it out. I think it's really inappropriate for children, and have asked my husband not to expose the younger son to it. He informs me that the younger son loves Michael Savage.

Savage reminds me of those guys that go nuts and start shooting up the place, like the guy who went ape at the Lockheed Martin plant in Meridian, MS. Just full of rage.

[republicofdavis]

"This whole thing is crazy."

There I agree with you. Why did his staff let his comments get on the air? And why did Savage so badly handle a crank caller, many of whom call shows all the time to stir up the pot? Call the guy a moron and move on. It shouldn't have come to this.

[FourtySeven]

I supported Savage when he first went onto MSNBC. Do a search under my name, and you'll see that for yourself, if you believe I'm lying. I know I'm right though, and I don't really care about proving it to you. (so don't bother calling me a liar on that, it won't affect me).

I listened to his radio show before and during his MSNBC days. I knew he was more of a "firebrand" then, but honestly, I didn't think he'd be so STUPID as to say something like that on MSNBC of all places!

He got what he deserved. I never heard him make similar death threats on his radio show, but if I had, I would've turned him off then too.

Again though, he got what he deserved, not only for his obvious blind hatred, but also for his sheer stupidity.

[FourtySeven]

Savage reminds me of those guys that go nuts and start shooting up the place, like the guy who went ape at the Lockheed Martin plant in Meridian, MS. Just full of rage.

Nailed it, right there! Thank you.

[tallhappy]

I think it's really inappropriate for children

His show has always had a warning that the show had adult situations.

[FourtySeven]

You were already against him being on the air for your own personal reasons. So what is your two cents really worth? At least you were honest about where you are coming from.

See my post #44. It is YOUR analysis that is flawed, not mine.

[MEGoody]

"why would one decree that another person should "get AIDS and die."

While I agree this was a tasteless thing for Savage to say, he didn't exactly 'decree' it since he does not have that power.

And by the way, since this idiot homo likes to 'get a reaction,' he got one. So why is everyone so darned upset?

[tallhappy]

He got what he deserved. I never heard him make similar death threats on his radio show

He did not make any death threats. Correct your mistake or have it be understood you are purposely spreading lies.

As far as hearing similar comments, yes. Comments such as, "get AIDS and die", "Eat sausage and choke", "eat sausage and get trichinosis" or similar are figures of speech meant to insult and impart disrespect and loathing of the person theyt are directed to.

Such comments are not meant literally. It is another way to say "shut up moron" or what have you.

This whole thing is such a tivial issue and is so distorted and intellectually dishonest.

Savage (and a lot of people) always talk like this using figurative speech. In fact, that is a large part of Savage's persona.

There is a weird hysteria about certain topics and issues. If Savage had said, "eat sausage and die" only none of this would have happened.

It is all manufactured.

[William Terrell]

I think the context of this article clearly shows that there wasn't a death threat, or anything like that in the crank call.

How so? Did the writer of the article know what the comments were? If so, why did he not publish them? And if he didn't know, how could the context show anything, one way or the other?

Death threat? What comments would cause you to mouth angry, and therefore uncensored, remarks or react with even physical assault that could not be considered a death threat?

I understand that many people hate Savage, and hatred often tempts people that hate someone to disregard or outright occlude mitigating factors in that one's actions.

So many questions; so much uninformed reacting.

[F16Fighter]

Thanks for your research on the hypocracy and cowardice of some people -- Worth bringing THIS to everyone's attention again...

L. Brent Bozell, director of the Media Research center... wonders why some liberal reporters/commnetators who made equally offensive statements were not canned?

His examples - liberals who wished death on, or maligned conservatives on their programs:

Big mouthed Julianne Malveaux, who wished death on Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas: "I hope... he dies early like many black men do, of heart disease.”

NPR loudmouth, Nina Totenberg wished death on Sen. Jesse Helms and his family: "[I]f there is retributive justice, he’ll get AIDS from a transfusion, or one of his grandchildren will get it.”

And these are public figures wishing the death of other public figures -- not some gay-baiting twit.

[JennysCool]

not only for his obvious blind hatred, but also for his sheer stupidity.

Agreed. I'm in radio and you can get away with a LOT more than even just five years ago, but making death threats to a caller will NEVER fly, with the audience or with management -- on radio or, in this case, TV. Savage was just plain stupid here.

[tallhappy]

but making death threats to a caller will NEVER fly

He did not make a death threat. Please correct your mistake and apologize for spreading lies.

[tallhappy]

Please correct your mistake concerning "death threats" and clarify he did not make a death threat and your were mistaken to have said so.

To clarify again on the figurative language used by Savage. Savage always and consistently used figures of speech equivalent to what he said the other day.

[republicofdavis]

you seem to have a bee in your bonnet about this death threat thing. You are correct that he did not literally make a death threat. If he had said "go jump in a lake and drown" nobody would have cared and we would not be having this discussion. But he said what he said and it was way beyond the pale of what he should have believed he would be able to say on the airwaves of a corporation such as MSNBC. And even though it's not accurate or fair, he will be used to denigrate all conservative talk-show hosts.

Of course, the people who buy that would never be listening to talk radio anyway.

[republicofdavis]

"And by the way, since this idiot homo likes to 'get a reaction,' he got one. So why is everyone so darned upset?"

I'm pretty sure the guy's not actually "a homo" as indicated in the article. And it seems like most of the people who are upset are those who believe he should not have been taken off the air.

[kylaka]

I've occasionally caught Savage on the radio when he was still on ABC in NYC. I'll admit he made me cringe a few times, and for that reason I never became a regular listener. I got the impression he was trying to emulate Howard Stern in terms of shock value with a different subject matter.

[tallhappy]

If he had said "go jump in a lake and drown" nobody would have cared

Exactly my point.

I think it is much worse for "conservatives" to go around lying about what someone said than worrying about their strange ideas of how a non-conservative radio personality somehow reflects on other people's opinions of them.

I think people here marching lock stock in lemming formation following and propigating the leftist distortion and lies is worth having a bee in a bonnet about.

[Ed Straker]

Maybe this was some of that 'psychological nudity'...

[bmwcyle]

There is not difference. Weak so weak.