Radio hosts under fire for homeless man's rape comments
Comments about Laura Bush & Condoleeza Rice
Eyewitness News
(New York - WABC, May 11, 2007) - Radio hosts Opie and Anthony are under
fire after airing a piece in which a homeless man declared he'd like to
rape Condoleeza Rice, Laura Bush and Queen Elizabeth.
The graphic sequence on their XM Satellite Radio program proved that the
line can be crossed even in a medium with no restrictions on content.
The actual comments were made by a guest the shock jocks call Homeless
Charlie. As each woman's name came up, he said, "I'd love to f--- that
b----."
The hosts laughed as they imagined "the horror" in Rice's face and what it
would be like to hold her down and punch her in the face.
The crude comments came a month after CBS gave Don Imus the boot for
calling members of the Rutgers University women's basketball team
"nappy-headed ho's."
As an audio clip spread across the Internet, XM quickly issued a
condemnation.
"We deplore the comments made on today's 'Opie & Anthony Show,'" an XM
spokesman said.
Opie and Anthony themselves offered an apology Thursday evening.
"We take very seriously the responsibility that comes with our creative
freedom and regret any offense that this segment has caused," they said.
At the State Department, spokesman Sean McCormack declined to comment on
the insult to the secretary of state. A White House spokesman declined to
"dignify that with a response."
XM did not comment on possible disciplinary action, but industry observers
said the offensive remarks had the potential to derail a lot more than the
deejays' jobs.
XM and Sirius Satellite are seeking the Federal Communications
Commission's approval for a merger. Tom Taylor, editor of the trade
magazine Inside Radio, told the Daily News that this could place the issue
of content on the table.
"XM and Sirius don't want any regulation," he told the newspaper. "But
it's come up in four congressional hearings, and at this point, the merger
is such a close call any issue could become important."
While many of Homeless Charlie's comments were bleeped out, he talked
about how he "punches old b----es in the head" to steal their money.
Anthony, whose full name is Anthony Cumia, called that comment "horrible
and awful," but said it illustrated a point about radio. "You can talk
about beating up old ladies and nobody stops you, but make one insulting
joke about an ethnic group and you're fired."
Opie, real-name Gregg Hughes, and Anthony have complained lately about
restrictions on their terrestrial radio content, a subject with which they
are familiar.
They were taken off New York's WNEW by CBS in August 2002 for running a
contest in which they said two listeners had sex in St. Patrick's
Cathedral.
They were hired by XM in 2004 and in 2006 rehired by CBS for WFNY.
(Copyright 2007 WABC-TV)
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=local&id=5295408
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