Radio Station Fires Hosts Kimberly and Beck For Racist Comments on Air Amidst Nationwide Protests

Rochester, New York-based radio station WAIO-FM fired two of its hosts on Wednesday after they discussed on-air whether rioters were “acting N-word-ish.”

“Okay, let me ask you a question. Were they acting N-word-ish?” asked Kimberly & Beck co-host Kimberly Ray on the news of a group of rioters who attacked a woman in Rochester.

“They were acting thuggerly,” responded Ray’s co-host Barry Beck. “I think they’re thugs.”

“Were they acting N-word-ly?” pushed Ray, prompting Beck to reply, “Yeah.”

Another man on the show then protested, “You can’t say that! What are you doing?”

“Also stop saying ‘thugs’, that’s part of the problem,” the man continued, as Beck declared, “They’re thugs! They’re thugs! If you look like a thug and if you act like a thug, and you’ve got three on one and beating up a white woman with a two-by-four, by God, you’re a thug.”

In a statement, iHeartMedia’s President of the Upstate New York market Robert J. Morgan condemned the comments and revealed that the two hosts had been fired.

“We made the decision to terminate Kimberly and Beck yesterday as soon as we learned of their comments and informed them early this morning,” he said. “We will not tolerate this kind of behavior, which is antithetical to our core values and beliefs and to our commitment to our community and everyone in it.”

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