Was it racist or a harmless tweet about an outfit? That’s now being debated across the country after Cumulus owned WMAL fired conservative talker Amber Athey after her 15 word tweet.
Athey is the Washington Editor at The Spectator and was brought in by WMAL three months ago to co-host mornings with Larry O’Connor, Julie Gunlock and Patrice Onwuka. The show was called “O’Connor and Company.”
Here’s the text of the tweet that Athey says led to her firing: “Kamala looks like a UPS employee — what can brown do for you? Nothing good, apparently.”
The conservative says she was told the tweet was racist and was terminated.
The difference between Athey and many other radio hosts who lose their job is that Athey has other platforms to fight back. In addition to using Twitter to state her case, she wrote about it HERE in The Spectator, where she states WMAL caved to “the mob.”
Athey writes that 8 days after the tweet she received a call out of the blue from Cumulus Washington VP Jeff Boden and Kriston Fancellas, from Human Resources. “They told me that the tweet I sent about Kamala was “racist” and that subsequent follow-ups defending myself and making fun of the efforts to cancel me were unacceptable. I had violated the company’s social media policy, they said, and I was terminated effective immediately.”
On Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson show last night Athey said she has a termination letter that lays out that she was fired over the tweet about Kamala Harris’s outfit. “I think what happened here is Cumulus thought that they could just make this all go away, they could just get these few activist e-mails, they could appease the mob if they just fired me.”
She went on to say that she plans to tell everybody loudly and proudly what happened. “I think we live in a very perverse and sick society when a working class woman can’t criticize the outfit of the most powerful woman in The United States.”
We have reached out to Cumulus for comment.
Would you have fired Amber Athey from your radio station?
Do y’all have selective amnesia? I recall Melania Trump being ripped on a daily basis for what she wore. Never mind the fact that Trump’s clothing was constantly criticized along with everything he did.
Kamala is an attractive woman that dresses very poorly and that is an unbiased opinion.
Awesome that I shut off WMAL two weeks before Amber was tossed out. I was a devoted listener to O’Connor and Co since the show was Mornings on the Mall. But I realized it was RINO in dogma and turned to WPGC.
I’m glad the CCP run station dumped her. I could never stomach The Girls anyway and their horrific giggles. Why, Kampon can dress in brown if she wants! What has she done to trigger little Amber? I thought Repubs were supposed to be KIND.
Most of the comments on this story don’t take into account that Cumulus is a company that also has freedoms. When did idiots like this vapid host forget that? She’s getting her mileage out of it, good for her… but none of these empty bags shouting about losing their freedoms will ever get an A in civics class.
If our VP was a Republican, I wonder if Amber would still be employed.
She’s doing the smartest thing she ever did, she’s getting publicity. I never heard of her before, have any of you? Does she contribute anything worth paying attention to?
She’s playing the victim card, but she’s doing something methodical. She’s 26-year-old, zoomer,, who think she knows more than she does. And isn’t going to back down even if she’s wrong
Well, Chuck, You’re here talking about her and no one is here talking about you.
👍 Agree
Chuck Who?
I’ve read about Amber and will probably listen to her on Bongino’s show
Most “conservative” talk show hosts should be fired. Real Conservatives such as Ronald Reagan would be turning in their grave if they heard this garbage. A few still exist. Most of the crap on “Talk Radio” is shameful and sad. And, yes, this “lady” knew damn well what she was talking about. Would she have commented on a blue outfit on Kamala Harris? Criticizing the Vice President is fair game but do it based on facts not just junk like this.
Comparing a blue outfit would be a sign of colorblindness and clearly an ableist comment. Hope dare you!
Absolutely right John. Many right wing, racist human cockroaches now take cover by calling themselves “conservative.” This nightmare trend began when Rush Limbaugh was on the air.
Genuine Relublican conservatives like President Nixon – who started HUD – are rolling over in their graves.
ditto..ditto!!!
So what really happened? Below, the story that appeared in Talkers Magazine. It states she compared VP Harris to a Hershey’s Chocolate Bar
Amber Athey Explains Exit from WMAL-FM’s ‘O’Connor & Company’ Show in Spectator Column
The Spectator Washington editor Amber Athey says in her column that her critics on the left have tried “every trick in the book” to drive her out of the industry but her exit from Cumulus Media’s news/talk WMAL-FM, Washington finally came as the company bowed “to the mob.” Athey was one of three rotating women co-hosts on the “O’Connor & Company” morning show led by Larry O’Connor. In early March she posted a tweet critical of Kamala Harris’ brown pant suit comparing her to a Hershey’s chocolate bar. After a period of time, she was informed by the company that the perception of the tweet was racist, and she was being let go for violating the company’s social media policy. In her piece she says, “This incident has destroyed the integrity and reputation of WMAL and Cumulus as hosts of conservative content. We spoke frequently about the dangers of censorship and cancel culture on our program, and yet here they are bowing to the mob. If I can be fired for making fun of the vice president’s outfit, every single host on a Cumulus station is in danger of losing their job at a moment’s notice. Political commentary is worthless if it can’t be used to speak truth to those in power without fear of professional consequences.”
No.
O’connor talks a big game, but he won’t defend her because he’s another guy just playing to keep his job. Boden is a Corporate Jedi and has mastered the art of politics. Amber now has an even bigger platform and will likely get a settlement from Cumulus, as calling someone a racist is a very tough thing to defend.
Cumulus fires people for no reason at all. At least they gave Amber a reason, albeit a bad reason. Some of their best employees were fired because they refused to be vaccinated. They threatened to fire talk show hosts who had the audacity to question the legitimacy of the 2020 election. When you work for Cumulus you better get good at walking on egg shells.
Does anybody recall the Baltimore MD TV news white girl host who suggested Baltimore might need a male mayor instead of electing another woman mayor in view of the past three female disaster mayors? She was OUT, like that. OUT…OUT…off the air!
Comulus won’t last. See if they fire Larry O’Connor for habitual stuttering.
Who cares really? Conservative talk show hosts saying or tweeting or blurting out stupid things are common place. She will “valiantly fight back for freedom” on some other platform. Just another brick in that wall.
Is there any reason why any of us should care about what color outfit Kamala Harris wears? That remark was stupid and petty but not racist. There are plenty of real issues out there. The color of someone’s outfit is not one of them.
Hey, since she appeared on Tucker Carlson’s show, maybe he could land her a nice job in Moscow with his Russian buddies. Govorit Moskva.
Agreed. The issue has nothing to do with the color of her suit. The real issue is that her suit is EMPTY.
Of course not. . . Cumulus needs more adults making PR decisions. Their sop to the
“Woke” folks shows they don’t understand the mood of the country, and will soon again
be relegated to being just another out of touch bankrupt company.
Amber should not have been fired. But she should have been disciplined for an offensive comment against another woman! Shame on her!! If the VP was male, commenting on his clothing would have been considered petty, silly and disrespectful, no more no less.
Lighten up Radio. Brown is a shipping company. Do a little DX-ING and see what other stations of Black, and Hispanic say without any problem. Come on. There are far too many problems in this world THAT NEED IMMEDIATE ATTENTION. We are all in this together, WHITE BLACK BROWN and any other color you can think of. See if you can make it a day without anyone looking for something to get mad about. IF YOU FEEL THE NEED TO BE MAD…Get Mad at PUTIN you know that guy in Russia! NOW YOU SHOULD BE REALLY CONCERNED ABOUT THAT PROBLEM.
She should be ‘re-hired’ for standing up for free speech!! I can’t hear the clip of this… only see the transcript of it. But it really doesn’t make any difference. On any given weekday morning, on any given chatter happy radio grouping (pick one; Bob & Tom, Stern, and so forth) you could expect to hear this, laugh, and move on.
Joe, the most outstanding feature of large corporate radio, TV, or other corporate media is the OFF switch. CLICK! Amber should not have been fired. For a number of years WMAL has been “circling the drain” under large corporate ownership and management. I remember the days when WMAL had Harden and Weaver, Tom Gauger, Trumbull and Core, Bill Mayhugh, etc. on the air and the numbers showed it. The saying about “go woke, go broke” is true. There are at least two large corporate radio licensees teetering on the edge of bankruptcy and “going woke” is a big reason listeners are turned off.
“There are at least two large corporate radio licensees teetering on the edge of bankruptcy…”
Cumulus (again) and which other company, are you saying?
I was never a Rush FAN, the dude was an entertainer raking in the millions convincing his audience that he was a genuine freedom fighter. He was thoroughly immoral, but I’d take him over wretched Don Bonguido. That person should be stopped–he has no credibility at all!
Of course she shouldn’t be fired for that. Stupidity knows no boundaries. And for those who support this: one day it will come back to haunt you!
Jocks have been fired for far less than this. There was a time when only “professionals” were allowed on mic. Now, if you have a Twitter following and the right look for print ads, you’re sent to mornings.
More political correctness stupidity.
She went on Tucker’s show — she should be re-fired for that.
She had a bigger platform for 3 minutes than Karen will get over her entire career. Think about that.
I can remember when Tuck wore a bow tie. He’s considered the VOICE OF REASON today in CCP Amerika which makes me giggle and giggle…