Last night, Anthony Cumia, host of SirusXM's The Opie & Show, went on an angry, bitter, violent, racist rant on Twitter for hours. At one point he literally said about African Americans: "They are not people." But anybody who is at all familiar with Cumia wasn't the least bit surprised by his vitriol.
But this isn't anything out of the ordinary for Cumia. He regularly makes jokes at the expense of black people on his SiriusXM show and his personal podcast. It's been going on for years, but the kind of people who would typically be offended by the things Cumia says about race aren't willing to wade through hours of his radio show everyday. He's been in a unique position to speak so egregiously on racial issues without being particularly challenged or taken to task by the opposition or his parent company. Here's just a small taste of what he's said in recent years:
"Does race matter to you at the doctors? It does to me. When I look for a doctor or a dentist, I look and I try to figure out the name and see if the name is somebody who might be my own race. I just trust my own race more." "The press will coddle black people. It's unbelievable the extent the press will go to to try not to offend and try this inclusion." "Do you understand that people have said that black people can't be racist because to be racist you need a power base in order to oppress people? You've got it, black people! You have the power base. You have the ability with that R-word to ####ing ruin people's lives. Not mine. Haha."
Yes but have been you employed for the past 20 years to express your uncensored thoughts and opinions, to the world? A radio talk show host ( "a shockjock") has a different level of what is accepted and what isn't.
My points still stand. This situation is neither ironic, nor a freedom of speech issue. I think you've been listening to too much Alanis.
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Originally Posted by Bingo
Jesus this site these days
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He just seemed like a very nice person. I loved Squiggy.
Cumina isn't the first person to lose their jobs over ill advised twitter rants and he won't be the last. Just another reason that people should just stay off twitter. All twitter has accomplished is to demonstrate that celebrities and athletes are as dysfunctional as the general public.
Last night, Anthony Cumia, host of SirusXM's The Opie & Show, went on an angry, bitter, violent, racist rant on Twitter for hours. At one point he literally said about African Americans: "They are not people." But anybody who is at all familiar with Cumia wasn't the least bit surprised by his vitriol.
But this isn't anything out of the ordinary for Cumia. He regularly makes jokes at the expense of black people on his SiriusXM show and his personal podcast. It's been going on for years, but the kind of people who would typically be offended by the things Cumia says about race aren't willing to wade through hours of his radio show everyday. He's been in a unique position to speak so egregiously on racial issues without being particularly challenged or taken to task by the opposition or his parent company. Here's just a small taste of what he's said in recent years:
"Does race matter to you at the doctors? It does to me. When I look for a doctor or a dentist, I look and I try to figure out the name and see if the name is somebody who might be my own race. I just trust my own race more." "The press will coddle black people. It's unbelievable the extent the press will go to to try not to offend and try this inclusion." "Do you understand that people have said that black people can't be racist because to be racist you need a power base in order to oppress people? You've got it, black people! You have the power base. You have the ability with that R-word to ####ing ruin people's lives. Not mine. Haha."
Context is missing in every case. They have been on the air 3-4 hours a day for 20 years, can't just pick and choose stories, I know many will say that that doesn't matter.
As for the show, once every couple of weeks race will come up and Anthony will go Anthony. Opie will do his Sudoku and Jim will go to the bathroom or whatever. Much of what he says has a lot of meaning, then callers will troll him and then he loses his mind.
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My points still stand. This situation is neither ironic, nor a freedom of speech issue. I think you've been listening to too much Alanis.
My point is that making the world know his opinion and how he feels, his world views etc.. is his job. You can't compare what you do and the standards you are held to in your job and what he does.
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My point is that making the world know his opinion and how he feels, his world views etc.. is his job. You can't compare what you do and the standards you are held to in your job and what he does.
You're right. I do not broadcast racist thoughts to the world, as my standards are higher.
If you want to argue that he shouldn't be fired because he tweeted as he acts on his job, fine. I don't know the whole story (was he warned, told not to do it, given free reign, etc.) I don't care that he got fired, as he seems like a dbag, shock jock or not. What I do know is your opening post said it was a freedom of speech issue and was ironic. I'm saying it's neither.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bingo
Jesus this site these days
Quote:
Originally Posted by Barnet Flame
He just seemed like a very nice person. I loved Squiggy.
My point is that making the world know his opinion and how he feels, his world views etc.. is his job. You can't compare what you do and the standards you are held to in your job and what he does.
Should his employer not also have the right to terminate an employee who gets the company brand on social media?
Cumina isn't the first person to lose their jobs over ill advised twitter rants and he won't be the last. Just another reason that people should just stay off twitter. All twitter has accomplished is to demonstrate that celebrities and athletes are as dysfunctional as the general public.
The problem isn't Twitter/social media, but the fact that society in general - and some people in particular - aren't yet savvy enough to realize that when you put it on the internet, you lose control over not only who gets the message, but also the context from which it is delivered. Tread at your own risk.
As far as Cumia being fired, even though SiriusXM is being a little hypocritical here, there is a difference between his radio show and his Twitter account. Namely, in order to be bombarded with his racist jokes on the radio show or podcast, you have to actively search that out. Most other people won't know it exists, or even care. But as I note above, once you get on social media, these messages become much harder to control. Now a whole world of people are seeing "racist rant" and "SiriusXM" joined together. The company has an obligation first and foremost to protect its brand. It was ultimately Cumia's ill-advised decision to use the wrong medium to present his message that cost him his job.
Is it bad that I got Opie and Anthony mixed up with Pen and Teller.
Sorry Pen and Teller.
If that happened to him then it is awful. What he did because of it was awful. Once again generalizing one group due to the experiences one has received from a small group, a few or one.
Yup, dude should be fired. Now he's free to say what he wants.
Last edited by To Be Quite Honest; 07-04-2014 at 02:27 PM.
As for Cumia, he really did force the company's hand with his tweets. He should have saved his venom for the show, that way Opie and Jim Norton would have been there to have a back and forth with him, making his comments come across a lot less harshly. Damn, did the airwaves lose a great radio show today.
^^Those two in that video are just awful. Staying with the status quo however is the only way to get ahead in a media career though so I can't blame them. I really think that this is what Ant wanted and it is very hard to defend what he did. Their contract expires in Oct and this was an out for him and a way to move on, Opie brought him into radio and this saves them from "breaking up". Should he go on to internet radio, he will have complete freedom and can still make a lot of money at $5/month subscription.
The show had been really great the last 6 months or so and it will be interesting to see how everything transpires, I'm expecting a best of for next week. It was hard to tell where O and A were personally but profesionally they had great chemistry. Opie, Jim and Sam will not be the same.
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It'll definitely be interesting to see how Norton and Opie play this. Will they even want to do the last three months without Anthony? I have a feeling they won't. Especially considering how much they've talked about how much they hate seeing people fired over mere words.
Sam will land on his feet, I believe. He's quite talented and does a lot for the company. Not sure about anyone else. Erock and everyone else are probably a little nervous right now. Interesting week ahead, that's for sure.
Sirius XM fired Ant over his recent twitter posts. Should this be allowed? It has happened in the past, where social media comments have cost people their job, but nothing was posted that he hasn't said on air many times. There is lots to the story and of course there is the racism angel, but these same words come out of his mouth on a weekly basis on the air and nothing happens. Also ironic that on 4th of July someone is fired due to freedom of speech.
As a loyal listener over the past 7 years, personally I think he he wanted this to happen.
Seems to me that he should have been fired a long time ago, and you might need to question your taste in radio hosts
Oh and by the way, racism in this case doesn't have to be one or the other. they were both being racist. the reason she hasn't been fired from her job; because she isn't a public figure.
Last edited by smoothpops; 07-04-2014 at 05:33 PM.
Seems to me that he should have been fired a long time ago, and you might need to question your taste in radio hosts
Oh and by the way, racism in this case doesn't have to be one or the other; they were both being racist in this case. the reason she hasn't been fired from her job; because she isn't a public figure.
I'm guessing you have never listened to the program. They discuss real world issues, comedy, pop culture and everything else under the sun. They talk using real life terms, not sugar coating anything or shying away from touchy subjects. The discussion is usually intelligent, interactive, funny and real, not morning DJ fluff full of fake laughter, fake phone calls and fake contests. Opie and Jimmy are generally much more restrained when race issues come up and Anthony speaks freely and factually on the issue, but not empathetic. Anthony and Patrice O 'Neal had the most honest race discussions you'd ever hear.
Many cannot get over the language used and blow it off as garbage, but there will never be a more truthful show on the airwaves.
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