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"I will never go to a Serena Williams level, but I'm very comfortable with a Halle Berry level."
update 3/26/2021 2:18 PM
Halle Berry has responded to being compared to a NY radio host's toaster setting.
"Disgusting. It's ridiculous this type of nonsense is still being broadcasted across airwaves," she tweeted.
"ALL Black women are beautiful and worthy, Rob Lederman. GTFOH."
Disgusting. It’s ridiculous this type of nonsense is still being broadcasted across airwaves. ALL Black women are beautiful and worthy, Rob Lederman. GTFOH. https://t.co/9qMrLysjy2
— Halle Berry (@halleberry) March 26, 2021 @halleberry
original story 3/26/2021 9:58 AM
The New York radio host who was fired for comparing Black women to burnt toast has issued an apology.
Rob Lederman was sacked from "The Morning Bull Show" on 97 Rock Buffalo, and two of his colleagues suspended, after an on-air discussion comparing his toaster settings to Black female celebrities he finds attractive.
"See we have ours — and I may get into trouble for this — I have them to the attractiveness of women that I find to be attractive," he said.
Didn’t hear this live but internet keeps receipts. @97RockBuffalo morning hosts compared how they like their toast to black women’s skin tone. So just in case y’all missed it too, take a listen pic.twitter.com/6nVolu5a23
— Marcel Louis-Jacques (@Marcel_LJ) March 24, 2021 @Marcel_LJ
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View Story"So I will never go to a Serena Williams level," he declared in the wince-inducing clip, shared on Twitter by EPSN reporter Marcel Louis-Jacques.
"But I'm very comfortable at a Halle Berry level," he continues. "I need a little bit of mulatto coming through, it can't be...."
"Is Gayle King not your realm?" his female co-host Chris Klein chimed in.
"No Gayle King is not even on my toaster level," he replied.
In a statement to People, Cumulus Media confirmed Lederman was "swiftly terminated" shortly afterward.
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View Story"CUMULUS MEDIA operates from a clearly-defined set of programming principles and there is no question that Rob Lederman's comments made on The Morning Bull Show are in direct violation of those principles," they said. "We swiftly terminated him and suspended the remainder of the show's on-air talent. We apologize, and deeply regret the incident."
On Thursday, Lederman created a Twitter account to issue an apology, calling his own comments "foolish and ignorant."
— Rob Lederman (@LedermanRob) March 25, 2021 @LedermanRob
"After listening to what I said, and how it must have sounded to others, I was horrified," he wrote. "I 100% understand why people are justifiably angry."
He said he had reached out to the NAACP, his friends in the clergy from the African American community and the Mayor's office to seek guidance and teaching.
"Please know my comments were ignorant, but not meant to be hurtful, but I know I, as well as many others, need to learn from this."
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