Radio host fired after comparing skin tones of Black women to toast
CBSN
A radio host in Buffalo, New York, was fired after he compared Black women's skin tones to toasted bread, CBS affiliate WIVB reported. Cumulus Media, the owner of 97 Rock, announced Wednesday that "Morning Bull" radio host Rob Lederman was let go and his other co-hosts, Rich Gaenzler and Chris Klein, were suspended after they engaged in a conversation rating Black women according to their skin tone.
"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," a spokesperson for the company said in a statement to WIVB. "We swiftly terminated him and suspended the remainder of the show's on-air talent. We apologize, and deeply regret the incident." On the show, Lederman said he "would never go with Serena Williams level, but I'm very comfortable at a Halle Berry level."Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.