Rob Lederman, radio host of The Morning Bull Show, has been swiftly fired after racist comments.
Lederman’s racist comments compared his preferred toaster settings to Black women’s skin tones. Lederman discussed tennis professional Serena Williams, actress Halle Berry and television personality Gayle King’s skin tones. “I may get into trouble for this,” said the radio host before making the racist comparison.
“We have our toaster setting at the attractiveness of women that I find to be attractive, so I will never go to a Serena Williams level,” Lederman said. “But I am very comfortable at a Halle Berry level. I need a little bit of mulatto still coming through… Gayle King is not even on my toaster level.”
On Thursday, the broadcasting company Cumulus Media released a statement confirming that they have taken action for the radio host’s comments. “Cumulus Media operates from a clearly-defined set of programming principles and there is no question that Rob Lederman’s comments made on The Morning Bull Show are in direct violation of those principles,” the statement said. “We swiftly terminated him and suspended the remainder of the show’s on-air talent. We apologize and deeply regret the incident.”
The fired radio host was also fired from his arena host position for the Buffalo Sabres and Buffalo Bandits.
Co-hosts Chris Klein and Rich Gaenzler have been suspended. They can be heard in the background of the clip laughing at Lederman’s comments.
Lederman released a statement apologizing for his remarks on air. “I want to sincerely apologize for hurting people with my foolish and ignorant comments yesterday,” the former host said. “I 100% understand why people are justifiably angry.”
“I made a mistake, and it’s hard to look myself in the mirror, but I want to acknowledge it,” Lederman continued. “I apologize from the deepest depths of who I am.”
