The hits keep on coming for Boston radio station WEEI and its talking heads.
The Red Sox emerged on Wednesday with a statement of “growing concern” over WEEI’s accumulation of controversies, most recently host Christian Fauria’s racist impersonation on air over the weekend. Fauria, who mocked sports agent Don Yee with a stereotypical Asian accent, joined host Alex Reimer on the suspension list, after Reimer was banned indefinitely Jan. 29 for calling Tom Brady’s daughter a derogatory name.
“We have had a growing level of concern, and we’ve expressed that very clearly to their management, especially over the past year — and in the past week and in the past few days,” said team president and CEO Sam Kennedy of the Red Sox’ radio home since 1995.
“This pattern of controversial incidents is exhausting, I think, for listeners and fans in general. It’s something that Entercom (WEEI’s parent company) is smart to address.”
Kennedy is not alone in his apprehension. The popular destination for Boston sports fans has also lost five advertisers since Fauria’s incident.
Two days after the flub, Comcast Corp. and City of Boston Credit Union reportedly cut ties with WEEI. As of Tuesday, according to the Boston Globe, four more walked over concerns with employee behavior: Citizens Bank, the Massachusetts State Lottery and the Massachusetts Health Connector.
“These kinds of statements do not reflect Citizens’ culture of respect and inclusion,” Citizens Bank spokesman Peter Lucht said in a statement. “We have communicated that to WEEI management and have suspended our advertising on the station.”
Citizens Bank and WEEI have had a business partnership for more than a decade.
Under pressure from other advertisers, WEEI has marked off Friday as a day committed to sensitivity training for its employees, thereby taking all shows off the air from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Kennedy called the training an “unprecedented step” by the station and a good sign for its product heading into the MLB season, but warned that he’ll “reserve judgment” on the team’s future with WEEI. The Red Sox signed a contract with the station in 2016 that gives it the rights to their games until 2023.
Fauria, a former NFL tight end who played four seasons with the Patriots, received a five-day suspension for his imitation of Yee, who is of Chinese descent and represents Brady as well as 49ers quarterback, and Brady’s former backup, Jimmy Garoppolo. He apologized on Twitter after the episode for his “horrible attempt at humor.”
Though Brady assured he did not feel ill will toward Reimer for calling his 5-year-old daughter, Vivian, an “annoying little pissant” based on her appearances in the “Tom vs. Time” documentary, Fauria’s actions don’t help soften the tension that has come between their long-standing relationship. The quarterback hinted after the incident that his weekly spot on “Kirk & Callahan” was in jeopardy going forward.