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Loading ...Ads pulled over radio hosts’ transgender remarks
06.08.2009 10:30am EDT
(Sacramento, Calif.) Bank of America, Verizon, Chipotle and other companies have pulled advertising from a Sacramento radio station after talk show hosts referred to transgender people as “freaks” with mental disorders.
During a May 28 show, one of the three hosts on KRXQ’s “Rob, Arnie & Dawn” show said he would hit his son with his shoe if he put on high heels. Another said he would tell a boy he was “a little idiot” if he asked to wear a dress.Officials with Bank of America Corp. and Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. said Friday their companies pulled advertising because they found the comments offensive.
“We listened to the segment and the follow-up comments, and found it quite difficult to defend,” Bank of America spokesman Joe Goode said.
Representatives of Verizon Communications Inc., Nissan Motor Co. and Carl’s Jr. restaurants also said they stopped advertising.
Transgender advocates and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation have sought an apology from two of the show’s three hosts, Arnie States and Rob Williams. The third host, Dawn Rossi, defended transgender people on the show.
“Our issue here is that Rob and Arnie advocated violence against children because of who they are and have failed to take responsibility for their dehumanizing and defamatory words,” said Rashad Robinson, senior director of programs at GLAAD.
John Geary, vice president and general manager of KRXQ, did not return a telephone message or e-mail Friday.
During a follow-up show Wednesday, States said he never advocated abuse. He said his comments were meant only as a joke and that he didn’t do anything wrong, according to a report in The Sacramento Bee.
During the May 28 broadcast, States and Williams discussed the California Supreme Court ruling upholding Proposition 8, the initiative on last November’s ballot that banned same-sex marriage. The hosts then turned their attention to transgender lifestyles.
“If my son, God forbid, if my son put on a pair of high heels, I would probably hit him with one of my shoes. I would throw a shoe at him,” States said on the air.
Williams suggested transgender people suffered from a mental disorder.
“They are freaks. They are abnormal,” he said. “Not because they’re girls trapped in boys bodies, but because they have a mental disorder that needs to be somehow gotten out of them.”
GREAT NEWS! I wrote them a rather scathing e-mail right away. These two guys are beneath contempt. Yeah, it was just “humor” my ass! That kind of humor gets people killed. What inhuman scum!
Of course the male side of it is all he addresses. Never a female to male sort of situation. They have their right to an opinion just like Withers here on this site, but kudos to the companies that will no longer finance the hate.
While I feel that men in general look far better and far handsomer in conventional male clothing and conventional male haircuts, neatly trimmed moustache and beard, I feel better about the banks, companies and store that are a part of my everday life doing the right thing and showing that bigotry will get your a** cooked (if your show depends on being sponsored by corporatons that might just make… unfortunately for you scum….diversity their official policy that reflects who they are to the world) by yanking sponsorship of depraved, morally disturbed bigots like this particular vile radio trash trio. You lose enough sponsors, unless you are a multi billionare, you’re off the air and the world is a better place without you polluting it with your bigotted filth.
Gotta say that I am pleasantly surprized that such big named sponsers pulled the plug on their $$. I wonder how long it will last after some christian terrorists organize and complain.
I say don’t even give them a chance to explain. Their comments stand on their own. Let the station know you’re not patronizing them or their sponsors until these guys are fired. Apologies are meaningless from bigots.
I agree. These men advocated emotional and physical abuse towards highly vulnerable children. They should be FIRED! To insult our intelligence by claiming it was just “humor” is merely pathetic.
Their Mea Cupla (online now):
TO OUR LOYAL ROB, ARNIE AND DAWN FOLLOWERS,
WE HAVE FAILED YOU. AS A SHOW, AS PEOPLE, AS BROADCASTERS, WE HAVE SIMPLY FAILED ON ALMOST EVERY LEVEL.
WE PRESENTED OUR OPINIONS ON A VERY SENSITIVE SUBJECT IN A HATEFUL, CHILDISH AND CRUDE FASHION; AND THEN, GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO RETRACT THOSE REMARKS, WE DEFENDED THEM.
SINCE THEN, YOU, OUR LOYAL LISTENERS, HAVE MADE IT CLEAR TO US THAT WE WENT TOO FAR. THE RESPONSE HAS BEEN OVERWHELMING. NONE OF YOU SAID THAT WE COULDN’T HAVE OPINIONS, YET SO MANY OF YOU SAID THAT THE WAY WE GAVE THEM CROSSED THE LINE. FURTHER, YOU SAID THAT OUR ATTEMPT TO MASK OUR COMMENTS AS “JOKES THAT WOULD BE UNDERSTOOD BY OUR AUDIENCE,” WAS UNACCEPTABLE. I WOULD SAY NOW THAT IT WAS WORSE THAN THAT, IT WAS COWARDLY. YOU HAVE MADE THAT CLEAR.
WE HAVE REACHED OUT TO VARIOUS GROUPS AND ASKED FOR A CHANCE TO MAKE THIS RIGHT; TO RESPOND, WITH THEIR PARTICIPATION, TO THE EDUCATION THAT OUR AUDIENCE HAS PROVIDED US. THAT OPPORTUNITY HAS BEEN GRACIOUSLY GRANTED THIS THURSDAY MORNING, JUNE 11TH. AT 7:30 A.M.
THE WORD APOLOGY APPEARS NO WHERE IN THIS LETTER FOR A REASON. WE ALREADY HID FROM DOING THE RIGHT THING ONCE AND WE’RE NOT GOING TO MAKE THAT MISTAKE AGAIN. APOLOGIZING IN A WRITTEN, POSTED STATEMENT IS A FORM OF COWARDICE. WE WILL SAY WHAT NEEDS TO BE SAID THIS THURSDAY.
ON A FINAL, PERSONAL NOTE, AS THE LEADER AND OWNER OF THE SHOW, I HAVE MADE THE DECISION THAT WE NEED TO REFRAIN FROM BROADCASTING NEW EPISODES UNTIL WE CAN ADDRESS THIS ON THURSDAY . WE WILL RETURN TO THE AIR AT 7:30 A.M. JUNE 11TH.
ROB WILLIAMS
ROB, ARNIE AND DAWN
I am happy that Carl’s Jr, Bank of America, Chipotle, Nissan, and Verizon all pulled out of advertising for this show. That said, do we have a list of local or national advertisers who decided to stay with them for this show? My only means of fighting hate is by educating friends and family and with my pocketbook.
I was astounded at Rob Williams attempted apology for his conduct. Do we allow bullies to go around pushing people down and then saying, “Oh, sorry about that.” People like him need to know that there are consequences for their actions.
The two men should be fired. The ONLY reason for their mea culpa is that the backlash has been intense, otherwise, there would have been no apology at all.
Hey wanna hear a funny joke? If I saw a kid with brown hair I would break his arms with a stick! Oh wait, that’s not funny. It’s not funny to talk about abusing children because of a characteristic they are born with. Too bad these bigots didn’t get the message.
Why do people and/or groups always seek or demand apologies from public figures who engage in this sort of behavior? If they truly felt bad for it, they wouldn’t've done it in the first place. So, why on Earth do people try to force them to give disingenuous apologies? If they’re ever sorry for something, it’s not for being prejudiced pricks. It’s for getting in trouble for being prejudiced pricks.
It’s like Hugh Grant’s apology when he was busted for hiring a prostitute all those years ago. He simply said, “I’m sorry I got caught.”
These guys aren’t sorry for being hate-mongers, nor will they be just because they’re made to issue a fake apology.
Honey, you can keep that apology. I’ll take your resignation, instead.
egging on and calling for violence, denigrating both science and law and mental health, and calling for hate. that’s so humorous. just for laughs let’s ask them to volunteer for waterboarding and then yuck it up with them when they beg us to stop. that’s how funny ha ha they are. it’s this kind of talk which kills innocent children.
Chris Sullivan, you did it again. Thank you for always bringing great info to the discussion; in this case the “apology.” I have listened to these guys before and would be SHOCKED if Rob Williams actually wrote that “apology” himself. His speach-writer did a great job, but it didn’t come from Rob Williams!
Though apologies can be healing, I’m not into demanding apologies. I just speak with my feet and my dollars, and if a decent apology comes, I accept it and all is restored. Demanding apologies can make one appear to be coming from a position of weakness and need. Money however, and the feet that carry it……