Broadcast Company of America’s XEPRS-AM San Diego/Tijuana (XX 1090) morning driver Scott Kaplan has been fired after making disparaging comments about a female broadcaster for the Mountain West’s TV network. The Sports Talk station announced Kaplan “has officially left the organization” without giving a reason. The station’s press release on 2/6 said: “We are making this significant change in our morning programming after very careful consideration and evaluation of several important factors.”
Kaplan’s comments drew outrage after being reported last week in The San Diego Union Tribune. On his daily sports talker 1/25, Kaplan called Mountain West studio analyst Andrea Lloyd a “beast,” an “animal,” a “monster” and a “sasquatch of a woman.”
Specifically, Kaplan said, “I think that she is currently a woman. I cannot confirm for you that she has been a woman her entire life. My guess is that at some point she had some form of surgery. Have you seen this chick?”
He later said, “I’ll take Holly Rowe’s giant butt any day on ESPN, compared to this sasquatch that they use.”
Kaplan left to do his show at the Super Bowl in Indianapolis last week as the story was reported in UT San Diego on 1/31. Upon returning from the Super Bowl, he did his last show Monday morning and was fired later in the day.
As a result, Kaplan’s longtime show with former Chargers linebacker Billy Ray Smith is canceled (“The Scott and BR Show”). The station said Smith is “considering future projects.” The new morning show, starting 2/8, will feature longtime San Diego sports radio duo Dave Palet and Jeff Dotseth.
Kaplan is also a sideline reporter for Dial Global’s Sunday Night Football package and this marks his tenth year broadcasting for the network. Kaplan formerly hosted WW1’s NFL Today pre-game show before moving to the field.
An email obtained by UT San Diego indicated that the station’s GM Tex Meyer, had spoken with Kaplan about similar previous remarks. The email from Meyer was in response to a listener who complained about Kaplan’s comments on Lloyd, a women’s basketball Hall of Famer.
“I want you to know that I have had similar discussions with Scott Kaplan in the past about this subject matter,” Meyer wrote to the listener. “We are sensitive at the station to any derogatory remarks that are made about anyone and don’t tolerate it.”
Meyer apologized to the listener.
Kaplan previously was sued by a woman he called a “skank” on the air when he worked for XTRA Sports 690 in 2001. The woman sued him and owner Clear Channel, for slander, libel and invasion of privacy in 2002. The case was settled confidentially in 2004.
