CBS Radio Suspends 2 For Racial Prank

NYC Station's Hosts Called Chinese Restaurant And Made Lewd, Offensive Comments

(AP)  Still recovering from the Don Imus scandal, CBS Radio suspended two local radio hosts after they twice broadcast a racially charged prank call that targeted employees at a Chinese restaurant.

The hosts of the daily morning show, WFNY-FM's "The Dog House With JV and Elvis," have been suspended indefinitely without pay, CBS Radio spokeswoman Karen Mateo told The New York Times in an e-mail Monday. One of the hosts, Jeff Vandergrift, apologized on Monday's show, she said.

Local chapters of the Organization of Chinese Americans, an advocacy group, released a statement Sunday protesting the segment. By Monday, California State Sen. Leland Yee and others joined the campaign.

In the segment, broadcast on April 5 and again last week, a caller to a Chinese restaurant intersperses an order for takeout with lewd language and racial slurs.

The caller tells one female employee he wants to come to the restaurant to see her naked and refers to a part of her body as "hot, Asian, spicy."

The caller attempts to order "shrimp flied lice" and refers to a male employee as "Chinese man" before claiming himself to be a student of kung fu.

At one point he refers to a part of the employee's body as a "tiny egg roll."

The show's hosts, Vandergrift and Dan Lay, have been campaigning online and on the air in support of Imus since his firing for making sexist and racist comments about the Rutgers University women's basketball team.

Community advocates pushed for CBS to fire the hosts of the show, which can be heard only in the New York City area and on the Internet.

"If they don't fire the DJ's, it will be a double standard," said Vicki Shu Smolin, president of the New York City chapter of the Organization of Chinese Americans.

CBS Radio and CBSNews.com are both part of CBS Corp.

[thomaswong00]

I wish to register my outrage regarding this incident and strongly request that CBS News fire the offending DJ's. The act was particularly infuriating right at the heel of the Don Imus incident. CBS must demonstrate its sensitivity and decisiveness in preventing these demeaning acts from festering.

[thomaswong00]

I wish to register my outrage regarding this incident and strongly request that CBS News fire the offending DJ's. The act was particularly infuriating right at the heel of the Don Imus incident. CBS must demonstrate its sensitivity and decisiveness in preventing these demeaning acts from festering.

[thomaswong00]

I wish to register my outrage regarding this incident and strongly request that CBS News fire the offending DJ's. The act was particularly infuriating right at the heel of the Don Imus incident. CBS must demonstrate its sensitivity and decisiveness in preventing these demeaning acts from festering.

To chachillinco:

The thing is, Asian wash cotton and manufacture ovens. Because we didn't pick the cotton or bake in the ovens against our wills, we don't get any reparations.

[chachillinco]

Those two djs would know something about tiny eggrolls, they have one barely hanging from their thongs now. And they probably sucked on one before because you know most if not all white men are sickos who prey on 13 year old boys.

[chachillinco]

I don't think these fools were suspended because they made racist comments to Asians. People make comments to and about Asians all the time but suffer no consequences. But when it comes to blacks and jews and *** ohh watch out. Because of the fact that Don Imus was fired for making so called racial slurs that is the reason why those two djs were suspended so it wouldn't seem like a double standard. They don't really care. But guess what it still is a double standard because they should have been fired!! Julie Chen you better talk to your husband Les Moonves or whatever his name is about this!! They need to stop scapegoating us.

[chachillinco]

CBS is an anti Asian station just like every other mainstream broadcast in America. I can't stand that every time someone says something about a black or jew they take it out on us and use us as an example. They put Don Imus on 60 minutes about his racial slurs and ethnic remarks but Andy Rooney in his segment makes anti asian remarks all the time. Just because of of the guys is married to a Korean woman doesn't mean ***. He could be color blind to just her and she might be a sellout with no self respect. Listen the bottom line white liberal think it's cute to give blacks all their power because it furthers their own political career. Also now that white kids are now listening to black music because of the "wannabe movement" it's where the money is at. Black djs make racial remarks all the time about Asians because we all know blacks are anti asian but they don't face any consequences for it. They wonder why that kid Cho went ballistic and started shooting people.

[webyankee]

Give me a break...these are no joke...they used word "son of the bitXh"....are those jokes???

[news102030]

To their Sponsors,

Please tell me you're supporting "JV & House"!
(I won't buy your product !!!!)

Are you Dare to?

[e-mail]

Didn't we learn last week frm Cho Seung-Hui than when you make fun of Asian people, CHILDREN DIE!!! Korean Take-Out Anyone? Now *THAT'S* a funny Asian restaurant joke! Why don't these guys think up something original instead of recycling lame Asian stereotypes?

[sweetgal_deb]

Hey Mike-
I'm with you, folks need to lighten up! I've noticed that if your white & live in America you can't joke around, tease, & must be politically correct. If you are black, or gay/lesbian you seem to get a free pass to say anything & to push the envelope without repercussions.

Rap music uses awful terms, speaks of degrading women, uses N word freely. Al Sharpton calls whites crackers, Jesse Jackson calls Jews hymies.
But nothing happens to them, they don't lose their jobs.

Everybody needs to losen up! Don Imus said a stupid thing. He met with the team & they felt he was sincere & accepted his apology. There was no need for Imus to lose his job. He could have done alot of good by changing his ways a tad & showing others his show could still be out there without using terms that degrade, ect.

Look what ABC & Disney allow Rosie O'Donnel to get away with on daytime TV. What if Elisabeth started talking about Jesus every morning? The powers that be would have her on the carpet quick! There is a double standard going on. I'm sick of it. Everybody take a deep breath, relax & just CHILL OUT!!!! :)

If these radio DJ's want to talk trash, suspend them a day or two & the get on with it. Why don't groups picket the black stations playing that filthy rap garbage? Where is good ole Al & Jesse then? *LOL*

[pakaal]

I find it terribly offensive to dogs everywhere that Harry Reid called Cheney Bush's "Attack Dog". That's very species-ist of him to denigrate our wonderful dogs like that. Reid should be suspended for making those offensive remarks!

Ahh, humor at another's expense. Such a tricky thing.

[mikealford3]

COME ON AMERICA LAUGH JUST ONCE. We are so caught up in being mad we are loosing touch with each other.

What would husbands do if their wives went on strike everytime a blonde joke was told? Sleep Alone?

I have had a fake left leg since 1984 and I still laugh when someone says they are "busy as a peg legged man in a butt kicking contest".

LOOSEN UP AMERICA AND LAUGH JUST A LITTLE BIT.

[misspp-2009]

Trutommo.

You asked if I had ever listened to them and the answer was no. So out of fairness, I went to their website and honestly they seem to be very low-life.

If enough pressure is put on all of the networks, they will take action, but that would take a very intense concerted effort on the part of lots of people and groups. And to be perfectly honest, our short-attention-span society is not up to the task. But in the interim, don%u2019t you think that the lesser guys such as The hosts of "The Dog House With JV and Elvis" should be smart enough to realize they had better watch their step because they can%u2019t get away with the things that Limbaugh and Stern can? In the meantime, I don%u2019t think society has lost a thing if these guys and others like them are gone.

[trutommo]

Missp, maybe we're not so different after all. I'd love to see all the people you mentioned get fired. But that is nothing short of fantasy and is just never going to happen. As long as the big offenders on your list get to keep their jobs, so to should these DJs because they are small time and have done nothing compared to those big names.

I agree with you that the networks are to blame, but if they are to blame, then why are we punishing the talent rather than their bosses.

What will happen if these DJs get fired? Their boss will hire someone nearly identical, lay low for 6 months and it will all be back to normal. This accomplishes nothing but smearing a pair of otherwise harmless comedians.

[misspp-2009]

trutommo,


The %u201Cwitch hunt in the media%u201D as you refer to it, is long past due. And yes let%u2019s put the blame where it belongs with the hypocritical networks, such as NBC and CBS. All races and ethnicities deserve to be treated with respect. The scum such as Don Imus, the DJs you were defending, the DJ I brought to your attention, the hip-hop artists who use degrading and demeaning terminology, Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, The Greaseman, et al should be gone. And I make excuses for NONE of them.

So if you want to point out unequal treatment, point to the hypocritical powers that be such as the networks, radio stations, record company executives, etc. But don%u2019t excuse the behavior of the so-called artists.

[trutommo]

Also, just how of curiousity have you ever listened to their show? It's usually just topics about politics, news, and other random topics. It's not like this every day, this sort of thing is actually a rarity. If you're going to be required (by exec management) to push the edge, and you go too far... getting fired outright with no warning seems a might harsh. People are so quick to condemn because they see a news story and think they know everything about these guys.

[trutommo]

Misapp,

I don't take issue that these are white guys getting it handed to them so much as the witch hunt going on in media in general. I may not like what someone has to say but as long as it isn't criminal I think they should be able to say it. I've never been for "cleaning up the airways" as it tends to just homogenize the media and makes everything boring.

I too believe that everyone is truly equal, but if that's the case CBS should treat people equally. Having rules in place that black DJ's can use certain slurs while hispanic DJ's cannot is in itself a racist policy. I think we should be able to agree certain things are unacceptable and stick to it, but the way things are now, rules are not being applied evenly. O&A have done far more outrageous skits, they are not under the gun, these two just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Condemn them if you want but they are victims of circumstance, everyone on this station is doing the same exact thing.

[misspp-2009]

trutommo: Let's you and I politely agree to disagree. It is quite evident, that although we appear to be of the same race, you are quite determined to have it your way. And you are stretching hard to do so. I happen to believe that all people are TRULY equal and that racism and bigotry are wrong no matter the skin color of the perpetrator. Oh sure, I could find more instances where a minority was punished but those would not please you either.

[trutommo]

Misapp,

He was also clearly making racist remarks, but that's not why he was fired. Did the Chinese Coalition in New York complain about the slur, or just the family of the daughter that was threatened. While slurs were involved in the case, that is not the root of the issue, the man was fired for making threats, not racist remarks. The truth is, noone complained about the racism, only the threatening remarks.

I mentioned the title because that is the topic of the article, and it doesn't mention racist remarks, it mentions threats. The article here, mentions racism. Anyone that threatens anyone in any forum deserves to the prosecuted to the full extent of the law, that is a crime. Joking around is not a crime, no matter how much you want it to be.