Thursday, July 27, 2006

Talker Yanked For Homosexual Slur


“A fag is not gay just a sissy boy”

An Entercom talk show host has been suspended after calling a state official a “fag.” John DePetro, late morning host for talk WRKO Boston, has been suspended for two days by the company for referring to Massachusetts Turnpike Authority chairman Matthew J. Amorello as “Fag Matt.” “And I don’t mean gay fag, I just mean the way when you’re a sophomore, juvenile, in grammar school and somebody would say you’re like a sissy boy fag,” DePetro said on-air. “I don’t mean gay fag. I mean like sissy boy. He’s a little sissy boy. Wife wears the pants.” Entercom worked quickly in suspending DePetro, who made the comment on July 17. “This corporation has zero tolerance for racial intolerance,” WRKO and sports WEEI VP of programming Jason Wolfe told the Boston Herald. “Mr. DePetro has 72 hours to think about it.” Wolfe told the Boston Globe that he purposely chose the word "racial" because "people will lump everything in together." Amorello is under fire because of problems surrounding a major tunnel project in Boston. He has faced calls for his resignation since the recent "Big Dig" tunnel collapse there.

Billboard Radio Monitor, July 19, 2006