Washington DC radio host Chad Dukes has been fired by his station 106.7 The Fan after he was discovered to have made racist and inappropriate comments.
Dukes was a major feature at the DC area station, where he held the afternoon slot in a sports show called Chad Dukes V. The World.
The host had become popular, and in some quarters loved, for his lengthy and often angry rants on sporting issues, and particularly on the Washington NFL team.
However, The Washington Post reported that the parent company of the station, Entercom, issued a statement late on Thursday night which read that it had learned of “racist and inappropriate” comments made by Dukes on his personal podcast.
Senior vice president Ivy Savoy-Smith wrote: “We have zero tolerance for this type of speech from any of our employees, on our platforms or otherwise.
“Our air talent are ambassadors of our brand, and we do not want to be affiliated with these comments.”
The station confirmed the news on Friday morning with a brief announcement.
“Chad Dukes is no longer with 106.7 The Fan. Our company recently learned of inappropriate comments that he made in past episodes of his personal podcast, and our company has zero-tolerance for any forms of hateful speech.”
Both the station and Entercom have so far refused to say any more on the matter. It’s not been revealed which comments landed Dukes in hot water.
Chad Dukes Twitter account has removed all tweets
All tweets have been deleted from Dukes Twitter feed, but the account has not been locked.
His Instagram account is also still up and running, but there has not been any comment or statement from the former radio host himself.
Some fans expressed disappointment at the news, and on the Chad Dukes Vs. The World Facebook page, many fans called for a boycott of the station.
One fan wrote: “You’re the reason I stay sane driving home from work and the only reason I listen to 106.7, going to miss you, dude.” Another joked: “Looks like The World won.”
On Twitter, one fan lamented that their “afternoon commute will never be the same” again.
However, many of Dukes’s critics also took to Twitter to express their satisfaction that the host has been sent packing. One Tweeter called Dukes a racist and said they were glad that Entercom made the decision.
Some folks are glad Chad Dukes is gone
One station fan called Dukes the “worst” and said good riddance to the host.
Another Tweeter suggested they thought it was inevitable that Dukes would be “fired for some kind of hate speech.”
Another podcaster who fell foul of racist comments this year was Nick Cannon, who was fired by Viacom CBS following racist comments made on a podcast.
Alex Kompothecras from Siesta Key was also fired this summer following racist comments he had made on personal social media accounts.