Key Hot 97 Morning Staff Fired Over ‘Tsunami Song’

In light of controversy surrounding the Hot 97 Morning Show’s parody "Tsunami Song," radio station executives have taken action, firing morning crew member Todd Lynn for offensive racial comments made on-air, as well as producer Rick Delgado, who created the song. Following an internal investigation into the incident, Hot 97 and their owner, Emmis Communications, […]

In light of controversy

surrounding the Hot 97 Morning Show’s parody "Tsunami Song," radio

station executives have taken action, firing morning crew member Todd Lynn for

offensive racial comments made on-air, as well as producer Rick Delgado, who

created the song.

Following an internal investigation into the incident, Hot 97 and their owner,

Emmis Communications, said they decided that Lynn and Delgado’s "egregious

actions" justified termination.

Miss Jones, DJ Envy and

production assistant Tasha Hightower, who have been off the air since last Wednesday,

were suspended for two weeks, the station announced. Their salaries will be

donated to Give2Asia.

Miss Info, the other member

of the morning team, was not suspended but has also been off-air since last

week. Miss Info, a Korean American, expressed her disapproval prior to the airing

of the song, a parody of the 1985 hit "We Are the World."

She was met with disparaging

remarks from Miss Jones and Lynn, who said, "I’m gonna start shooting some

Asians," in response to Miss Info’s objections.

Lynn maintains that his

remarks were taken out of context and has also expressed his regrets for poor

judgment.

"The actions of the

morning show crew were socially and morally indefensible and the entire Emmis

family is ashamed by this," Rick Cummings, President of Emmis Radio, said

in a statement. "Our decision to terminate Mr. Del Gado and Mr. Lynn while

suspending the other members of the morning crew sends a message that this type

of insensitivity is utterly unacceptable."

Some critics are still irate

at Hot 97, criticizing the station for not implementing harsher penalties. "Their

statement is a joke," New York City Councilman John Liu told the New York

Daily News. "They need to fire Miss Jones, but even more important, they

need to accept corporate responsibility."

Hot 97 announced that they

pledged a million dollars to Give2Asia tsunami relief. Liu said the station

should have donated more from corporate profits, adding that more protests are

to come.

Miss Info will co-host an

Asia Relief Fund Benefit on Saturday (Feb. 5) along with rapper Jin, who immediately

issued a freestyle response to Hot 97’s parody after the initial incident.