MSNBC fires Savage after anti-gay remarks

Associated Press ^ | Jul. 7, 2003 01:00 PM

[sakic]

NEW YORK - MSNBC on Monday fired Michael Savage for anti-gay comments.

The popular radio talk show host who did a weekend TV show for the cable channel referred to an unidentified caller to his show Saturday as a "sodomite" and said he should "get AIDS and die."

[L.N. Smithee]

This will only help him. He is now a pariah again.

That's ridiculous.

[stands2reason]

what happened to the first amendment?

You seem to be ignorant of the purpose of the 1st Amendement. It does not guarantee non-public positions for idiots.

[gcruse]

MSNBC is a loser network with garbage ratings.

Yeah, like he has a chance to go on anything bigger.

[Tai_Chung]

Does this mean that NBC would fire anyone that wishes for the death of Charlton Heston (NRA), President Bush (remember the pretzel jokes?), Henry Hyde (from the Clinton impeachement), Newt Gingrich, and Ronald Reagan?

I agree that Savage crossed the line in his comments, but let's not have a double-standard.

[Al Simmons]

He's an entertainer, slightly unhinged, by his own admission. Sometimes he appears to be severely depressed and then the world is ending. Usually fun to listen to. He fell victim to his own temper here - no doubt the "sodomite"'s purpose was to provoke him just exactly for this end. Can't wait to hear what he has to say about this matter later on today (*LOL*)

[areafiftyone]

What Savage said was just plain nasty and MSNBC did the right thing. Did anyone catch Fox and Friends this morning? On the question of the day someone called in and said to the girl (I am not sure what her name was) that was substituting for E.D. Hill "Would you @#$% Howard Stern? I almost died! At least Fox and Friends had the decency not to stoop to that person's level by answering that person back!

[amexmike]

The reason his show didn't succeed is because of the ridiculous time slot they had it on. Saturday 2:00 PM (Pacific). What moron scheduled that time slot? It was destined to fail at that time. Based on the story he was set up. It's sad that fringe groups can put so much pressure on today's media while inverse pressure is labeled hate speech. Mr. Savage has a particular style that is purposeful to get people to think about the message. It's a shame that he has been taken off the air.

[rintense]

A buh bye.

[DryFly]

Nice way to get out of a contract and a poorly rated tv show without having to suffer the embarrassment of cancellation.

[Dimensio]

what happened to the first amendment?

How does the First Amendment play into this? Is Michael Savage facing criminal charges specifically because of what he said? Is he facing any kind of legal consequences at all as a direct result of his words?

[bigfootbob]

Who is Don & Mike?

[ikka]

Does MSNBC still have Julianne Malveaux on from time to time? Julianne is the charming leftist who hoped that Justice Thomas was fed lots of high-fat foods by his wife so he would have a heart attack and die early.

[gcruse]

An anti-gay comment would something to the effect that
"homosexual behavior is wrong".

No, that would be an anti-behavior comment.
Telling a gay he is garbage is an anti-gay comment.

 I'll stand by anyone's right to make that comment.

Exercising rights isn't always consequence-free.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

Good riddence to bad rubbish.

[kesg]

I have only listened to Savage for about the past two months and only off and on. He struck me as unbelievably shallow and just a mean guy who often would never allow a caller to flesh out their opinion before slapping them down with non sequiturs and verbal abuse. He was the anti Rush.

I listen to Savage a bit more often than this, but IMO you got it exactly right. He actually reminds me of so many people on the left, who likewise go nuts at the first sign of any serious disagreement with their views.

[OpusatFR]

Never could understand why MSNBC put him on in the first place. They could have picked someone less contentious and less patently way-out-beyond- the known right leaning universe. Or maybe that was the point: to have the right tarred with the thoughts and image of this man.

[Spiff]

Savage has said worse to many other callers. But, I guess if you say it to a "sodomite"...er...a member of a protected class of people who define themselves by a particular behavior in which they engage - then you're asking to be fired.

I knew this was coming. MSNBC was just looking for an excuse. Savage doesn't work well on TV and he just wasn't a good fit for MSNBC. I'll still listen to him on radio where he does best.

[swilhelm73]

Surely Hollywood will rally around Savage to stop the chilling effect of MSNBC's censorship will have on free speech in America, right?

[areafiftyone]

DUH?