MSNBC Fires Host Savage for Wishing AIDS on Caller

Yahoo! News ^ | July 7, 2003 | Ben Berkowitz

[El Conservador]

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Cable news channel MSNBC on Monday fired Michael Savage after the controversial talk show host wished AIDS (news - web sites) on a caller whom he dismissed as "one of the sodomites."

Savage had been under fire from gay rights groups since February when the network announced it had hired the conservative commentator to host a TV version of his popular talk radio show.

Saturday's episode of "The Savage Nation," his 15th since the program's debut in March, featured Savage discussing air travel with callers.

One caller began discussing his experiences, and after an unintelligible part of the call, Savage asked him "So are you one of those sodomists?"

When the caller said, "Yes I am," Savage, reclining in a chair with his arms folded and wearing dark sunglasses, responded, "Oh, you're one of the sodomites! You should only get AIDS and die, you pig!" in a clip of the show hosted on the Web site of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

An MSNBC representative was not immediately available to comment, but a source familiar with the matter confirmed that the show had been canceled.

GLAAD, which from the start campaigned against MSNBC's hiring of Savage, cheered the cancellation.

"Michael Savage's latest rant made the clearest possible case for why this kind of behavior has no place on any reputable news network," GLAAD spokeswoman Cathy Renna said in a statement.

In addition to his radio and TV show, Savage founded the Paul Revere Society, which advocates closing the U.S. borders, eliminating bilingual education and ending affirmative action programs.

A message left at a number listed for the Paul Revere Society in the northern California city of Mill Valley was not immediately returned.

Savage, who according to his biography on a network Web site holds a doctorate in epidemiology and nutrition science, hosted his unabashedly conservative show from the well-known liberal bastion of San Francisco.

A network source said the show had averaged 347,000 viewers through its first 14 airings, not including three weekends when the show was preempted by news coverage. It had aired Saturdays at 5 p.m. ET.

Savage was hired around the time the network canceled liberal talk-show host Phil Donahue, who in turn reportedly accused MSNBC of trying to "outfox Fox," a reference to Fox News Channel, often characterized as being conservative.

MSNBC is a partnership of the NBC unit of General Electric Co. and Microsoft Corp.

[El Conservador]

Is it justified???

Is it persecution???

All comments are welcome.

[Support Free Republic]

There's A Better Way To Beat The Media Clymers (And You Don't Have To Skate)!
	Donate Here By Secure Server Or mail checks to FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794 or you can use PayPal at Jimrob@psnw.com
STOP BY AND BUMP THE FUNDRAISER THREAD- It is in the breaking news sidebar!

[annyokie]

Well, distasteful, but warrenting firing? I think not. I'veheard worse on liberal talkshow/tv. eg: (re: Newt Gingrich: "We should stone his house and kill his children." (paraphrasing) Alec Baldwin.

[JoeSchem]

Wishing any caller to be dead is wrong. Savage should have been cancelled.

But the real tragedy here is that the caller, if he is indeed a promiscuous homosexual, probably already has AIDS.

[CobaltBlue]

Hey, this is America. Savage has the right to free speech but no right to a forum. MSNBC has the right to can him. He's just an employee.

I am sure Savage agrees, and isn't whining about being fired. He's got too much integrity to whine.

[Fred Mertz]

Remind me to avoid watching PMSNBC. I thought that cable channel was finally coming around.

[Cultural Jihad]

Are you advocating for a Constimatushional Amendment for the equality of consequences to all outrages? If so, then may the chains of your ideology rest lightly upon you.

[annyokie]

Nah, Michael won't whine and will find a new hire toute de suite.

[annyokie]

You're misunderestimating me. See my post following yours.

[Oceanus]

What Savage said was just plain dumb. I think he should have been fired. But it pains me to see the GLADD folks win.

[Hinoki Cypress]

Then adios, mooooo-ron. No sympathy, here.

[Cultural Jihad]

Good for him. He'll do fine. He apologized for his remarks, even though some who blindly support him do not take him at his word that he is really sorry somehow.

[Cultural Jihad]

But it pains me to see the GLAAD folks win.

No one gets away with anything in this life.

[Hinoki Cypress]

You got that, 100% right.

[eeman]

MSNBC is private company that can hire and fire any commentator they want.

I am sure that other posters will disagree with me but I find Savage to be abrasive & obnoxious. I have listened to him totally insult people on his radio show whom I think have legitimate points or questions. Listening to him is like listening to sandpaper. I hope they can find another Joe Scarborough. I like hime because not only is he conservative, but also informative and articulate. Joe Scarborough delivers his message without being distracting because of his underlying personality, unlike Savage

[cyborg]

It painds me to see our side play right into their tricks. I would NEVER wish AIDS on anyone. One wonders if Savage has seen anyone with full blown AIDS suffer. Even if that person did it to themselves, needles, homosexuality,etc. how can someone say that?

[Jesse]

Savage is a blowhard. He and O'Reilly ought to get together. Would be sort of like two loudmouth Jerry Springers getting it on.

MSNBC can do as it likes. It is still, more or less, a free country. If he wants to make idiotic rants, he can buy his own television station.

[Nick Danger]

Betcha Ann Coulter got a real interesting phone call today.

[ladyinred]

You are so right. I wonder why there was no outrage from the media over Baldwin's comments which were clearly worse by far than Savages? I must admit, Michael is a bit much for me, but MSNBC should have known he would do and say things like that.

[Fred Mertz]

What did he say that was untrue?

[Cultural Jihad]

We discussed this on an earlier thread and the prevailing consensus is ...

It is not fair, though, to include in your 'consensus' those who were banned.

[annyokie]

I can't take Savage. But he should have got a strong warning not a pink slip, IMHO.

[Hugin]

You would never know from this article that they caller was a crank from another talk show who apparently lied about what he was calling about and suggested that something obscene should be done to Savage. You can disagree with how Mike handled it, but it really is a critical piece of info that they deliberately left out.

[new cruelty]

I think Baldwin was referring to Henry Hyde.

"We should go to Washington and stone Henry Hyde to death,"Baldwin was quoted as saying. "And then we should go to his house and kill his family."

Either way, Hyde or Newt, I think little alec did himself a disservice. The last 'great' thing he did, for the children, no doubt, was Thomas and the Magic Railroad.

[El Conservador]

...he shouldn't be condemned by those trying to pander to the gaystapo

One thing is not giving in to the gay agenda.

Another one is to wish death to someone else because of a petty disagreement.

[Hugin]

Another one is to wish death to someone else because of a petty disagreement.

It wasn't a petty disagreement. It was a crank caller who apparently made an obscene threat/suggestion.

[new cruelty]

What was the threat/suggestion?

[Jorge]

What did he say that was untrue?

Since when is saying you hope a person gets a terminal disease a question of whether it is true or untrue?

[Jesse]

Didn't say what he said is untrue. I said he is a blowhard.

Savage has a big mouth, and panders to the lowest common denominator. He's a jackass with a microphone. He can say what he likes, and I will defend to the death his right to be an ass.

If I owned MSNBC I wouldn't have offered him the contract.

Other "conservative" blowhards...Michael Gallagher comes to mind.

[Jorge]

It pains me to see our side play right into their tricks. I would NEVER wish AIDS on anyone. One wonders if Savage has seen anyone with full blown AIDS suffer. Even if that person did it to themselves, needles, homosexuality,etc. how can someone say that?

No one in their right mind would say what Savage said.

Remember the liberal left hoping Ronald Reagan would get AIDS and even making pictures of him with Kaposi's Sarcoma all over his face?

It's pathetic that Savage and his hatemongering defenders would stoop to this level.

[RonDog]

See also:

MSNBC Fires Host Savage for Wishing AIDS on Caller
			Posted by El Conservador On 07/07/2003 7:47 PM PDT with 28 comments Yahoo! News ^ | July 7, 2003 | Ben Berkowitz
MSNBC Fires Savage on Anti-Gay Remarks
			Posted by Pro-Bush On 07/07/2003 1:16 PM PDT with 12 comments AP ^ | 7/7/03 | DAVID BAUDER
MSNBC fires Savage after anti-gay remarks
			Posted by sakic On 07/07/2003 1:11 PM PDT with 743 comments Associated Press ^ | Jul. 7, 2003 01:00 PM

[El Conservador]

Here's the transcription (make your own judgement):

CALLER: "Hey Michael Savage, a pleasure to speak with you today. I was flying out of LaGuardia, and there was two undercover security guards. Somebody was smoking in the bathroom"

SAVAGE: "Someone was smoking in the bathroom."

CALLER: "Unbelievable."

SAVAGE: "What happened?"

CALLER: "Half-hour into the flight, I need to suggest that Don and Mike take your [silence] cause your teeth are [unintelligible]

SAVAGE: "Alright, so you're one of those sodomists? Are you a sodomite? "

CALLER: "Yes, I am."

SAVAGE: "Oh, you're one of the sodomites! You should only get AIDS and die, you pig! How's that? [off-screen crew can be heard shouting "Whoa!"] 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 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 and is angry at me today? Huh? Get me another one, put another sodomite on! No more calls? I don't care. Let's go to the next scene. I don't care about these bums, they mean nothing to me. They're all sausages."

[Hugin]

From another article posted earlier...

The incident that resulted in his firing began innocently enough. Savage was taking viewer phone calls about airline horror stories, and a male caller began talking about smoking in the bathroom.

"Half an hour into the flight, I need to suggest that Don and Mike take your ..." the caller said, before he was cut off and his words became unintelligible.

Don't know exactly, but I imagine it was something pretty raunchy to get that reaction.

[Fred Mertz]

I've smoked a cigarette in an airport bathroom in the past. I was hoping the swat team didn't converge.

[Symix]

I watched the show and listened to Michael's explanation today on the radio. He said the call was a setup where a caller was screaming obscenities in his earpiece.

According to Michael he gave a signal to cut the sound - but only the caller's voice was muffed and all we heard was the enraged Savage responding in kind.

From the very first shows it was obvious that the TV crew he got was either unprofessional or anti-Savage. Time after time the calls were missed, the crank calls passed through, one word - sloppy.

As per Savage the crew was having a good time eating pizza. etc., and did not respond to the situation. Michael responded to the verbal assault as his enemies knew he would. On the radio Michael has control over calls and can cut them in a moment. Here his (or perhaps not) crew did not.

To me his eating on camera was a much greater offense than a response to the crank caller. It was funny and it fealt like he was breaking a tabu.

Michael Savage joined the club with his predescessor on MSNBC Alan Keyes as the second brilliant uncompromising conservative yanked from tv.

MSNBC stands to loose all the new conservative audience they obtain with Savage. When they said that Savage had only marginally larger show they were lying as the audience he brought was a different, very effluent one.

I for one sorry for MSNBC. They do have guts to bring conservative voices (Savage, Keyes, Scarrborrough) to get ratings but they crumble under pressure from the left and indifference from the right.

[new cruelty]

So savage lost his temper (and his show) over a raunchy prank call?

[Hugin]

What I've heard is that there are a couple of Howard Stern wannbees called Mike and Don. Like Stern's fans, their fans think it's real clever to call other show on false pretenses and make lewd suggestions to the host while mentioning the show.

[j.havenfarm]

I'm sorry. Would that be Michael "I'm a big dumb jerk" Gallagher. Why, I'll never forget, back when there was nothing else to listen to in his time slot, when he told a boy who had a female friend who was overweight that the boy should call her names to try to motivate weight loss. Seems, when the girl called in a few days later, she hadn't appreciated the advice. One of many similar Gallagher moments.

[weegee]

This article neglects to mention what was heard prior to the "unintellgible". it was the name of 2 rival shock jocks.

The caller was a prank caller who proceeded to insult Michael Savage personally. The broadcast feed dumped the sound but Michael heard it in his earpiece.

Michael has also claimed that he thought that they were off the air at that point.

Michael apologized for the comments today and explained some of the background (but not the precise nature of the caller's insult).

[weegee]

This article also dropped his comment that the caller should eat a sausage and choke on it.

Both this and the AIDS comment could be summed up as "drop dead".

I thought at first that the sausage comment could have been a euphomism but from what I gather, there was some cooking on the show and even Michael was eating some sausage.

This article is a hatchet piece.

A commentator on CNN called Michael a neanderthal today. Don't look for that person's termination or for an apology.

[weegee]

That was Henry Hyde and family that Alec Baldwin advocated killing. He still gets plenty of positive exposure in the news and still gets work.

[Symix]

Tell me more about these Done and Mike.
Do you think it was one of them or their fan that called Mike?

[weegee]

He apologized for his remarks, even though some who blindly support him do not take him at his word that he is really sorry somehow.

???

Its his critics don't care for his apology.

I'm listening to his show and some homosexual callers have heard his apology and accepted it. They don't believe that he meant someone should catch AIDS and die.

[weegee]

But that wasn't a talk show host, that was an advertiser (Benetton) who put forth those AIDS photos of Ronald Reagan. And the graphic designers who did the work said that they wouldn't wish AIDS on anyone yet they put the time into creating such vile work.

That took far more effort and money than Michael's off the cuff comment.

Outside of life itself, is there any terminal disease that is pleasant?

[Hugin]

Really don't know much more, jut what I've read on other threads and heard on another talk show. They are supposed to be like Stern but not as smart and aim for an even lower denominator.

[Bob J]

You are so right. I wonder why there was no outrage from the media over Baldwin's comments which were clearly worse by far than Savages?

Because Baldwin is an ignorant actor who is expected to say dumb things. Savage is supposed to be a professional.

If he were on RadioFR, I'd probably can him too. Regardless of what you think about homosexuals, wishing aids on them is like wishing sickle cell on a black American, breast cancer on a woman or a concentration camp on a Jew. It hits home, it hits hard and it is nasty.

[weegee]

Didn't Ringo Starr and George Carlin do that role better?

[Naspino]

At least Savage didn't say "Bring it on..." or Dashhole might be gravely concerned.