MSNBC Yanks Savage After Gay Diatribe
By John M. Higgins -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/14/2003
MSNBC swung the ax on controversial talk-show host Michael Savage after he blasted a gay caller as a "sodomite" and told him to "get AIDS and die."
On the July 5 edition of the weekly show, The Savage Nation, a hostile caller, apparently gay, swore at radio talk-show host and author Savage, who responded, "So you're one of those sodomists. Are you a sodomite?" The caller said yes.
"Oh, you're one of the sodomites. You should only get AIDS and die, you pig. How's that? 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 have got nothing to do today. Go eat a sausage and choke on it."
Advocacy group Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, which had attacked MSNBC for hiring Savage earlier this year, regularly monitors the program and started calling network officials Monday at 8:30 a.m. By 2 p.m., the network told Savage that he would no longer be on the air.
In a brief conversation, Savage wouldn't discuss the show, saying, "I'm better off waiting until later in the week to comment."
MSNBC hired Savage in an attempt to chip away at the success of Fox News Channel. GLAAD Media Director Cathy Renna said she is happy that MSNBC responded quickly but remains angry that the network put the show on the air and kept it on.
