MSNBC sacks Savage after homophobic outburst

Emerson

Digitalspy.co.uk:

MSNBC has sacked ultra-right wing commentator Michael Savage after he told a caller to his Savage Nation show to "get AIDS and die," because the caller was gay.

The vile outburst happened on Saturday, July 5. Savage told the caller:

"Oh, you're one of the sodomites. You should only get AIDS and die, you pig. How's that? Why don't you see if you can sue me, you pig. You got nothing better than to put me down, you piece of garbage. You have got nothing to do today, go eat a sausage and choke on it. Get trichinosis.

"OK, do we have another nice caller here who's busy because he didn't have a nice night in the bathhouse who's angry at me today? Get me another one, put another sodomite on. No more calls out of-- let's go to the next scene. I don't care about these bums. They mean nothing to me. They're all sausages. Next scene; onto the next scene on the Savage Nation."

Savage has now been sacked. Jeremy Gaines, MSNBC's Vice President of Media Relations, said: "His comments were extremely inappropriate and the decision was an easy one."

The news drew a sigh of relief from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, who protested the hiring of Savage in the first place, earlier this year. Cathy Renna, GLAAD's News Media Director, said: "Frankly, it's about time. Michael Savage's latest rant made the clearest possible case for why this kind of behavior has no place on any reputable news network. MSNBC has now found itself broadcasting exactly the kind of verbal assaults GLAAD's been warning them about for the past five months. And to their credit, MSNBC and NBC News have backed up their promises to hold Savage accountable for his behavior."

"Savage's reprehensible attack violated even the minimal journalistic standards that had been applied to his show. By offering him a show in the first place despite his history of racist, sexist and homophobic rhetoric, MSNBC ultimately had to choose between keeping Savage and maintaining its integrity as a news organization."

It is thought MSNBC's decision to hire Savage was motivated by a desire to feature more opinion-led programming along the lines of top-rated news channel FOX News. However, it is now clear that the worries of organisations such as GLAAD at the hiring of Savage - notorious for his ultra-conservative viewpoints - were justified.

There are no details yet on what will replace Savage Nation in its 5pm ET slot on Saturdays.

Video/Sound clips here:
http://www.glaad.org/media/release_detail.php?id=3295

sceptre

MSNBC should have seen something like this coming (perhaps they did). The guy's as big a hatemonger as that chap in the Last Supper movie.

yellum

He was brought in for exactly something like this. He is a nutter that gets people to tune in.

MSNBC knew exactly what they were doing. Shame on them.