97 Rock Issues Formal Apology
• Last Wednesday, the city of Buffalo became engulfed in controversy when The Morning Bull show on Cumulus Classic Rock WGRF (97 Rock)/Buffalo, NY inexplicably decided to devote a segment of their show to compare their toast color preferences to the skin tones of various Black female celebrities… ahem… Not surprisingly, that bit imploded spectacularly… later that day, host Rob Lederman had been terminated, and co-hosts Rich Gaenzler and Chris Klein suspended.
Last Friday morning, 97 Rock Promotions Director/weekend air talent DJ Jickster filled in on the morning show and read the following statement: “By now you’ve probably heard about some things that were said on 97 Rock this week. In a weak moment, reckless, racist words were spoken on our air. Words that echoed widely, and caused pain in this community. Please allow us a moment to talk to you about this… and to apologize, from our hearts, for the hurt that’s resulted.
“It’s so important to us that you know, this is not who we are. We’re Buffalo people — all of us committed to making our community a better place to live. We aim to build, and we work hard all year to lift up western New Yorkers who need a hand. We rally this community to feed the hungry. We make wishes come true for children with life-threatening illnesses. We raise money to fight cancer, support children’s hospitals, and a lot more.” In closing, the statement read, “It is our mission to make life better for everyone who lives here — to entertain you, make you laugh and make you proud of your hometown. We know we have let you down, and for that we are truly sorry. Here’s our promise — we’ll redouble our efforts to fight ignorance and racism in our community. You can trust us to do more to help, and to unify all who call this big, beautiful, diverse town their home. Because… that’s who we are. Thank you.” The recorded statement is also posted on the 97 Rock Facebook page.
• For his part, Lederman (seen here in happier times) launched a new Twitter account and issued his own apology that reads, in part, “I want to sincerely apologize for hurting people with my foolish and ignorant comments yesterday. After listening to what I said, and how it must have sounded to others, I was horrified… I am writing this to address those who were hurt and those who don’t know me… I am also writing to say, ‘where do we go from here?’ How can I and others learn from this? Today I reached out to the local NAACP, my friends in the clergy from the African American community, as well as the Mayor’s office, to seek their guidance and teaching. I ask for your forgiveness, and I pledge to learn to do better and increase my sensitivity and understanding… I ask for your forgiveness, and I pledge to learn, to do better and increase my sensitivity and understanding.”
In closing, Lederman said, “I will make every effort to use what I am learning as a platform to better understand and hopefully help others, while helping myself.” There’s been no word yet on when — or if — Gaenzler and Klein will return to the morning show.
