The Buffalo, New York radio host made several inappropriate comments about people like Gayle King and Serena Williams.
What We Know:
- On Wednesday, Rob Lederman, one host of 97 Rock, had a conversation with co-hosts Rich “Bull” Gaenzler and Chris Klein on his Morning Bull Show about how well done they like their toast. In this case, the “toast” was women’s skin color.
- Lederman began by saying he would “never go to a Serena Williams level,” but was okay “at a Halle Berry level.” When Klein asked if Gayle King was on his “toaster,” Lederman said she was not even a level. He also said he needed a little bit of mulatto.
- Marcel Louis-Jacques of ESPN tweeted about the incident on Wednesday. The show is no longer available online after Louis-Jacques’s post. However, the recording can still be found on Twitter.
“There’s already an unfortunate and undeserved stigma attached to dark skin — so for Rob to take something undesirable like burnt toast and compare it to the skin color of any person is reprehensible and feeds into that stigma,” Louis-Jacques added on social media.
- Lederman and his co-hosts’ comments resulted in serious repercussions. Buffalo’s Roswell Park Cancer Institute pulled their advertising from the station. Pegula Sports and Entertainment, the company that owns the Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres, have fired Gaenzler from his arena host position. The Buffalo Association of Black Journalists has also condemned Lederman. They tweeted, “We are extremely disappointed and disgusted. Station leadership @97RockBuffalo can expect a follow up from our board.”
- Cumulus Media, owners of 97 Rock, have since issued an apology statement. They said the company operates from a “clearly-defined set of programming principles.” They declared that Lederman’s remarks were in direct violation of the rules and, because of this, have dismissed Lederman. Cumulus Media said what he said was unacceptable and inappropriate, and unnecessary in the community.
Lederman told The Buffalo News that his words were more ignorant than malicious. He also said he was embarrassed by what he said afterward. In addition to punishing Lederman, Cumulus Media has suspended Gaezler and Klein for the time being.
