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RADIO HOST FIRED AFTER RACIAL SLUR ‘SLIPS’ OUT: St. Louis radio personality blurts out ‘coon’ during discussion about Condoleezza Rice.
*He says it was an “inadvertent slip of the tongue,” but his bosses are wondering why that particular word tumbled out.
Talk show host David Lenihan, who had just joined 550 KTRS less than two weeks ago, was fired on the spot Wednesday after using the word “coon” during a discussion about Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
The remark was made during a conversation about Rice’s credentials to become commissioner of the National Football League, a popular topic on sports radio ever since word got out that the position has long been her dream job.
Lenihan began by listing what assets Rice could bring to the league, including her tenure as a top academic officer at Stanford University and the fact that she is African American.
“She’s just got a patent resume of somebody that’s got such serious skill,” Lenihan said on the air. “She loves football, she’s African American, which would kind of be a big coon, a big coon – oh my God, I am totally, totally, totally, totally, totally sorry for that, OK? I didn’t mean that. That was just a slip of the tongue.” Lenihan later said he meant to use the word "coup.
Within 20 minutes, station CEO Tim Dorsey was on the air apologizing for Lenihan’s words, and announcing that his employment there had come to an end.
Later, Lenihan told the Associated Press: "I was trying to say 'quite a coup' but it came out 'coon.’ I caught myself and apologized. It wasn't anything I was meaning to say. I never use that word.”
Dorsey, however, felt his explanation was weak, stating, “I don’t know what was in Mr. Lenihan’s mind. I know what I heard. I know it was reprehensible.”
When contacted by AP, Lenihan said he was in the process of writing an apology letter to Rice.
"I think she's a fantastic woman. I was even talking about if she ran for president, I'd work on her campaign," he said.
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