DJ fired for on-air prank

AP ^ | Oct 7, 9:38 PM | AP

[CARDINALRULES]

PHOENIX (AP) - The disc jockey who made an on-air prank call to the widow of St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Darryl Kile was fired, the radio station announced Monday.

KUPD-FM morning radio personality Beau Duran called Flynn Kile at her hotel and asked if she had a date to last Thursday's playoff game.

The stunt outraged St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa and prompted an apology from the Arizona Diamondbacks.

KUPD suspended Duran last week, but in a written statement Monday, general manager Chuck Artigue said Duran was fired.

In the statement released by the station, Duran said, "I am truly sorry for having offended Mrs. Kile and the Cardinals organization."

Kile, a starting pitcher for the Cardinals, died from blocked coronary arteries in June while in Chicago for a game.

[Ciexyz]

A tip for the dumb DJ: the Postal Service is looking for temporary Christmas workers. Ask your mail carrier for details.

[Alberta's Child]

The stunt outraged St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa and prompted an apology from the Arizona Diamondbacks.

No need to apologize . . . Have a nice time on the golf course. Word is out that some @sshole named Beau Duran is willing to caddie for $5.00 per day plus a couple of McDonalds Happy Meals.

[martin_fierro]

A tip for the dumb DJ: the Postal Service is looking for temporary Christmas workers. Ask your mail carrier for details.

Nah. He's not qualified. But McDonald's is hiring.

[kaylar]

According to the earlier articles on this incident that I read, the DJ's original punishment was a one week supension. This article words it as if the DJ was suspended pending a decision as to his punishment. That suggests to me that the firing was a reaction to the many angry calls, e mails, letters, faxes, etc, that the station has been receiving. Were it not for public anger, the DJ's punishment would have been a week's vacation.

[CARDINALRULES]

Personally I think it went from suspension to firing when A-B pulled ads from the program.
Also the national exposure over the weekend was heavy.

[Fred Mertz]

That's nothing worse than Howard Stern would do, and does do daily.

[Redbob]

Any idea what "Beau Duran's" real name is?
Maybe we could publish his phone number, and arrange a few calls to come his way...

[CARDINALRULES]

Follow up on the scumbag DJ.

[patent]

bump for that!

[537 Votes]

That's nothing worse than Howard Stern would do, and does do daily.

I'm not sure about that. I think even Howard Stern draws the line at mocking grieving widows.

[WoollyRain]

It is unfortunate that he lost his job. Hopefully some on will get a chance working his way back on air through the ranks. I would hope that KUPD has more class than Howard Stern.

[dighton]

It is unfortunate that he lost his job.

He's fortunate to have kept his teeth.

[CARDINALRULES]

I have no doubt the scumbag will move on to another DJ job somewhere --hopefully he might be a little wiser in his choice of targets for his "humor".

Or at least know better than to mess with the Cardinal Nation. ;-`)

Personally I am still mad as hell ... I'm still on the "Louisville Slugger to the kneecaps" phase. You don't want to know what phase it was on Thursday afternoon.

[Paul Atreides]

He's not qualified for McDonalds. He should try McDermott's office.

[martin_fierro]

You might even say that DJ committed a ...

... Cardinal Sin. <|:)~

[CARDINALRULES]

[L.N. Smithee]

That's nothing worse than Howard Stern would do, and does do daily.

I can't stand Stern, as longtime Freepers who are fans will attest. But although Howard the Schmuck has done some vile stuff, he is now constantly outdone by minor-league shock-jocks across America trying to outdo him and make a name for themselves.

A good example is Mike Esparza -- bka "Mikey" -- who was just canned from KSJO-FM in San Jose, a station that I once enjoyed. Although his show constantly had one foot in the toilet, he finally went over the line when commenting nonchalantly about a July 24 Philadelphia incident in which an abducted 7-year-old girl chewed through duct tape to free herself, later tearing through a screen window to escape into the street. Here, according to an FCC complaint, is what Esparza said on the air:

---

"That's why I don't use duct tape; that's why I use nylon rope."

He [later] said, "For all you kidnappers out there, we have a great contest at Orchard Supply Hardware. You can get $5,000 worth of supplies -- and that's great for kidnappers, because you can get all the nylon rope, tarps, and lye to dissolve the bodies..."

---

Orchard Supply Hardware canceled their contract, KSJO suspended him for those comments, and then issued a public, formal apology. But the last straw was when he played a parodic song about R&B singer and accused pedophile R. Kelly containing the lyrics "I'm feeling frisky, I know it's risky. I like the statutory rape."

KSJO announced last week that he will not be back on their station.

[lsee]

I am truly sorry for having offended Mrs. Kile and the Cardinals organization.

I'm truly sorry I got fired....

[wideawake]

I suspect that this is his real name. There is a DJ here in NYC (who is sarcastic, but not a shock-jock) named Elvis Duran. They may be related. Elvis Duran is from Texas, BTW. Don't know where this Beau guy claims to hail from.

[Fred Mertz]

I've heard that the Greaseman is back in circulation these days.

[barker]

Originally they weren't going to do anything to him at all. They only fired him because of the pressure after the story went national. O'Reilly even talked about it on his show and gave the stations number.

Personally I was hoping a few of the Cards would have a little 'meeting' with him.

Go Cards!

[steve-b]

True -- the Howard Stern wannabees tend to lack the original's sense for just how far to go without crossing the line.

[TheRedSoxWinThePennant]

he is on oreilly right now and seems sincerly sorry but I think he should have been fired

[SamAdams76]

That suggests to me that the firing was a reaction to the many angry calls, e mails, letters, faxes, etc, that the station has been receiving.

You got that right. Our emails, faxes and phone calls DO make a difference. The same situation happened over the summer with Opie & Anthony (the St. Patricks Day stunt). At first, everyone tried to laugh it off. Then the calls, faxes and e-mails started coming in. First the two DJ's were suspended. Then they were fired. All because of public outrage.

And as much as it broke my heart, I still haven't had a drop of Sam Adams beer since. Not even the Octoberfest which is normally a staple for me this time of year. But Jim Koch did apologize and he seems sincere. So maybe by Thanksgiving, I'll be in a forgiving mood.

[Keith in Iowa]

Catch the West Coast re-run of O'Reilly on FoxNews...the DJ was on...

[dittomom]

I just saw the kid on O'Reilly. I'm thinking he is playing the role of dumb, ignorant, kid very well, but I'm not buying it. He's young, inexperienced and has no business on the air. Only reason he's acting so contrite is he's out of a job. Also, O'Reilly asked him if he was aware of the fact that it's against the law to call someone while you're on the air and not inform the person you are calling that they are on the air. He knew about the law, but forgot about it because of a momentary "lapse into stupidity."

The station management should be fired for putting such an inexperienced person on the air.

[dittomom]

And remember when you watch the cleaned up version of "Beau," that the station's PUBLICITY photo of the guy looked like this...

[Billthedrill]

Orchard Supply Hardware canceled their contract...

ROTFLMAO!! No kidding...goes to show ya not all publicity's good publicity...

[LibKill]

Good.

I hope the little twit never gets a radio job again.

[TheRedSoxWinThePennant]

dont get me wrong he should have been fired I thought he was sincere even though it was an incredibly stupid thing to do. Bill was hoping he gets a new job I hope he grows up a little before he does though. I do think management pushes these people to be like stern or opie and anthony but that is no excuse. when I was 22 I did alot of stupid stuff (and we wont even get into the poop I got into during undergrad). Normally I am not the one to have sympathy for ignorant morons but I will give him the benefit of the doubt but he is not ready to host his own show.

[CARDINALRULES]

No FNC here. ;-(
Doubt I could get my sister to tape it for me either....oh well.

[dittomom]

Firing him was the only way to teach him anything. He probably has learned something from all this, but all I'm saying is he has no choice but to be apologetic if he ever wants to work in radio again. He did a very stupid and classless thing. I just hope we don't hear about this kid yucking it up about this incident a few years from now in another radio market. He should do his mea culpas, move on and shut the heck up about it if he has any respect for Mrs. Kile.

[JimVT]

I dimly remember back in the '40s when Bob Hope almost got fired from NBC for saying 'hell' or 'damn' on his weekly radio show.

Now we've got DJs describing sex acts in churches on-the-air.

I almost got canned myself when back in the '50s on a little backwater RI radio station I inadvertently announced: "And now here's Jane Morgan singing... 'Waiting for the shi* to come in.'