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.

[tallhappy]

When I say his firing was predictable, I'm not saying anyone actually predicted it...

I did, in fact, hear someone predict it. Very recently as well.

It was Savage himself.

I wonder does he get his salary from MSNBC still?

[tallhappy]

They would have been appropriate for a kindergarten playground

No. This is the strangest comment you've made. Kindergartners shouldn't even be aware of such issues.

[isthisnickcool]

That will get you kicked off national TV, that's what.

When did MSNBC become "national" TV? It's cable. Cable is not broadcast TV. They could have had Savage doing the show buck naked if they liked. Sorry the mental image that comment might offer:)

The reason Savage is off is because we must all agree that being queer is normal. That's the rule.

[republicofdavis]

Again, I make a perfectly reasonable statement and you profess misunderstanding or maybe you actually do misunderstand. It's not the content, it's the level of discourse. The only thing lacking was a "neener, neener" and a wiggling of fingers with his thumbs in his ears.

Do you think Rush Limbaugh would have done the same thing? Or Sean Hannity? Or Anne Coulter? Or . . . oh wait, Savage is not a conservative so it's not appropriate to compare him to them. Maybe Morton Downey, Jr.

[FourtySeven]

Would you say "take a long walk on a short pier is a death threat?" Would it be worth being fired over?

If you honestly believe that "take a long walk on a short pier" is the same as saying "I hope you get AIDS and die", then clearly there's no reasoning with you. And trust me, anyone following this thread can see that too.

Go ahead and accuse me of being a leftist, liberal loving, conservative bashing, lemming, or whatever other ad hominem YOU have used in the past, I don't care. You are irrational, plain and simple. Anyone can see that. You will take that as an ad hominem, but sometimes words and phrases that hurt aren't ad hominems, they're simply accurate.

Go ahead and reply to this post to get your "last word" like I know you want to. I don't care. The rantings of irrational people do not affect me.

[bmwcyle]

It is more like the shoe fits all to well but you don't like how it looks in the mirror.

[republicofdavis]

"When did MSNBC become "national" TV? It's cable. Cable is not broadcast TV."

When did the distinction between broadcast and cable determine whether a show was national or not? Since MSNBC is available pretty much everywhere I would consider it national, like Fox or CNN or the Disney Channel.

And no, he could not have appeared buck naked on MSNBC. Maybe HBO, but they have different standards than a cable outlet that is trying (poorly) to be a legitimate news operation.

"The reason Savage is off is because we must all agree that being queer is normal. That's the rule."

No, there are other conservative commentators who criticize the gay agenda without being booted off the air (e.g. Pat Buchanan). They just do it within the parameters of what's acceptable conduct on national news programs. You obviously think his grade school tirade should have been acceptable. Perhaps you should start your own news organization.

[MEGoody]

"I'm pretty sure the guy's not actually "a homo"

Perhaps not, but he did get a reaction, which is what he was trying to accomplish. So the question still stands - why is everyone so darned upset?

[MEGoody]

"but making death threats to a caller will NEVER fly"

What death threat?

[Blackwood]

Here's the guy's web site:

http://eastcoastbob.com/

He hasn't posted his .mp3 of hsi call to Savage yet. Interesting since he has posted all the others he's made.

[republicofdavis]

"So the question still stands - why is everyone so darned upset?"

Well, I'm not sure who you mean. I'm not upset and probably most people aren't. Are you talking about his supporters or detractors or both? His detractors are upset because they are always upset. His supporters are upset because they like him and feel he was unjustly fired and believe it was part of a queer conspiracy.

[PLMerite]

"It's kind of frightening, actually. People are saying, 'Look behind your back.' And they're making anti-gay statements. "

I've always been of the opinion that you should not do anything to get a reaction from someone unless you're prepared for whatever reaction you might get.

If he's not ready to go all the way, he should shut his yap.

[republicofdavis]

It is posted on his site. Here's the lik:

http://www.eastcoastbob.com/savageair.mp3

[republicofdavis]

"I've always been of the opinion that you should not do anything to get a reaction from someone unless you're prepared for whatever reaction you might get."

Well then, you should never do anything at all because you never know what someone's reaction will be. Is it reasonable that a crank call to a TV show will lead to violence at the hands of his fans?

[jodorowsky]

And trust me, anyone following this thread can see that too

Evidence that the left has no monopoly on bizarre-analogy word games, convenient tone-deafness, and good old "everybody does it".

These threads have been pretty disturbing.

[isthisnickcool]

They just do it within the parameters of what's acceptable conduct on national news programs. You obviously think his grade school tirade should have been acceptable. Perhaps you should start your own news organization.

MSNBC knew what they were getting when they hired Dr. Savage. They were after ratings one way or another. I don't consider what Savage does news. Commentary. But not news.

[republicofdavis]

"MSNBC knew what they were getting when they hired Dr. Savage. They were after ratings one way or another."

You are correct. They knew what they were getting. They expected him to be "outrageous." They expected him to go right up to the line of their acceptable conduct and they moved the line farther over for him then they've ever done for anyone. But in their opinion, he still crossed it. And he got fired. QID

[PLMerite]

If one is stupid enough to let one's identity become known, then one shouldn't complain.

If you're gonna pull a prank, be smart enough not to leave a trail.

[lepton]

, "Savage's behavior and his attacks violate even the minimal journalistic standards

He's a journalist?

[republicofdavis]

"If one is stupid enough to let one's identity become known, then one shouldn't complain.
If you're gonna pull a prank, be smart enough not to leave a trail."

So I guess you are saying that if you call someone some names you should expect to be beaten up by his supporters. I'm more concerned about the people who would actually commit violence against someone for something like this. That we don't need.