Anthony's Radio Career is Over

Anthony Cumia, the Anthony of "Opie & Anthony", is finished in radio after a series of angry and racist tweets were posted by him. His employer XM/Sirius immediately fired him, and this New York Daily News article says he will never be hired by anyone in radio again. Even though there is a petition to get him back on the air, his old employer won't budge.

What caused him to do it? He was punched in the face by a black woman in Times Square. The tweets are here. No question they were way over the line.

I read the article expecting to be totally on the side of XM/Sirius. There's clearly a racist element to this. But it looks to me like he just snapped after getting attacked, and he was trying to get back at her by saying the meanest things he could think of saying. Racist things? Yes. THE word that offends all women? Yes.

Was it wrong? No question. But isn't getting punched in the face even worse?

Seems to me that this shouldn't be a career ender. A suspension? OK. Even being fired, I can see. But never allowing him to work again because he snapped after getting punched in the face? It's not like this was Mr. Rogers saying these things. Anthony's a shock jock who regularly says things that go over the line.

Maybe I'm just getting soft in my old age.