Entercom WEEI Boston sports radio host Kirk Minihane has been suspended without pay for a week by Entercom for disparaging on-air comments he made about Fox Sports reporter Erin Andrews during two recent shows. Minihane’s suspension was announced 7/25 by Entercom CEO David Field, just hours after Fox Sports informed him it was pulling all advertising from the company’s more than 100 stations nationwide, including WEEI.
“Kirk Minihane’s statements regarding Erin Andrews were offensive and deplorable,” Field said. “It is clear by the response from our listeners, advertisers, and employees that Kirk’s efforts to apologize and make this right have been insufficient and ambiguous. We want to make it unequivocally clear that his comments were unacceptable and do not reflect Entercom’s values and standards.”
Minihane, one of three cohosts of the morning drive “Dennis and Callahan” program, referred to Andrews as a “gutless b—-” 7/16 while discussing the sideline reporter’s awkward interview with Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright during the All-Star Game.
Minihane apologized for his comments in a statement posted on WEEI.com that night. But upon returning from vacation Wednesday — his first day on the air since the original comments — he punctuated a verbal apology by suggesting that Andrews’s success is based on her looks rather than ability, saying if she “weighed 15 pounds more she would be a waitress.”
Entercom’s announcement of Minihane’s suspension came approximately two hours after a letter from Fox Sports president Eric Shanks to Field was obtained by the Globe.
In the letter, Shanks informed Field that all Fox advertising would be pulled and no Fox Sports personalities would be permitted to be guests on WEEI.
“The comments made by Mr. Minihane were boorish and sexist,’’ wrote Shanks.
“Further, the ‘apology’ made by Mr. Minihane was juvenile and insincere. To make matters worse, the ‘apology’ was posted under a banner (allegedly approved by your Boston VP and Market Manager, Phil Zachary) hailing ‘The Triumphant Return of Kirk Minihane.’
“I had hoped by this time we might hear a sincere apology from WEEI, or perhaps someone from your office might have reached out to Fox (which through our film and television businesses is a significant advertiser on Entercom stations),’’ Shanks added. “However, none of that has been forthcoming, and needless to say we are disappointed.”
See full the Boston Globe story here.
