Boston’s WEEI may have pulled the radio show Dennis and Callahan from its lineup on Friday, but that didn’t stop sponsors from dropping their relationships with the now infamous radio station.
According to a report by The Boston Globe, Fox Sports decided to pull ads from the station after co-host Kirk Minihane made what many consider to be sexist remarks about Fox Sports television personality Erin Andrews.
In a letter obtained by The Globe, Fox Sports president Eric Shanks had this to say to Entercom (WEEI’s parent company) CEO David Field.
By now you are no doubt aware of the incidents that occurred on-air at your Boston station WEEI on July 15 and again on July 22. I am referring to the obnoxious comments made by Kirk Minihane on the “Dennis and Callahan” show regarding one of our Fox on-air personalities, Erin Andrews.
As we have previously stated to various media outlets, the comments made by Mr. Minihane were boorish and sexist. 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 have discussed this issue with our senior management and our various senior marketing executives. At their recommendation, I am writing to inform you that going forward Fox’s entertainment and sports businesses will not be advertising on your stations for the foreseeable future.
I regret that we need to take this action, but as one of our executives reminded me, sometimes you need to vote with your feet. I trust you will discuss our decision with your staff at WEEI.
If you remember correctly, Minihane had some strong words for Andrews on air earlier in July (warning strong language).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-gXaiEUlqE
Once Minihane was “forced” to apologize for his previous rant, the radio personality seemed less than sincere.
It seems this is just one of the latest examples of a male putting his proverbial foot in his mouth as it relates to women in the sports journalism industry. While Fox could be considered hypocrites considering that it’s main network airs shows such as Family Guy, which portray sexist men, it’s important to differentiate Fox Sports from the parent company. In this, Shanks is 100 percent justified in taking this action.
Photo: CBS.com