Opie and Anthony

[03cavPA]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,271515,00.html

Opie and Anthony Apologize for Joking About Raping Condoleezza Rice

Friday , May 11, 2007



WASHINGTON —
XM Satellite Radio shock jocks Opie and Anthony apologized Friday for airing a homeless man's crude comments that he'd like to have sex with Condoleezza Rice, Laura Bush and Queen Elizabeth. The remarks were made on their show Wednesday by a guest the duo call Homeless Charlie. As the name of each woman came up, the guest said he would like to have sex with her -- using language not fit for print.

Opie and Anthony laughed as they imagined Rice's "horror" while describing a violent sexual encounter in which Rice is punched in the face.

Washington-based XM condemned the remarks.
"We deplore the comments made on Wednesday's 'Opie & Anthony Show,"' XM spokesman Nathaniel Brown told The Associated Press on Friday. He would not say whether XM planned to take disciplinary action.

Opie and Anthony, whose full names are Anthony Cumia and Greg "Opie" Hughes, apologized to listeners on Friday's show.
"We apologize to the public officials for comments that we made on our XM show on May 9th. We take very seriously the responsibility that comes with our creative freedom and regret any offense that this segment has caused," they said.

The story made headlines when it was broken by the Breitbart.tv Web site.
Because the show airs on satellite radio, there are no federal restrictions on its content. According to XM's Web site, the radio service has parental controls that allow users to block access to channels that frequently contain explicit language. Those channels are designated with an "XL" notation.

The same radio duo was dumped by CBS Radio in August 2002 for running a contest in which they said two listeners had sex in New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral. They were hired by XM in 2004.

The remarks could become an issue as XM seeks approval from the Federal Communications Commission to merge with New York-based Sirius Satellite Radio, said Tom Taylor, editor of the trade magazine Inside Radio.

"XM and Sirius don't want any regulation," he said in Friday's New York Daily News. "But it's come up in four congressional hearings -- and at this point, the merger is such a close call, any issue could become important."

Is this humor, or is it just extremely poor taste gone wild?

I wonder if XM would be as upset if it didn't involve a merger worth a lot of money? Is that the only reason to care? Why does subscriber based radio need to be regulated for speech content? IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, DON'T BUY IT/LISTEN TO IT.

Note: I am not defending what was said on their program, only their right to be stupid and tasteless. I don't listen to them, never have.

opcorn:

[lamehonda]

I listen from time to time. It is so funny because they had been saying that Don Imus's biggest mistake was apologizing for what he said. And then they go and do the same thing. I wouldn't be surprised if they got fired again.

[taranaki]

Originally Posted by 03cavPA

Is this humor, or is it just extremely poor taste gone wild?

I wonder if XM would be as upset if it didn't involve a merger worth a lot of money? Is that the only reason to care? Why does subscriber based radio need to be regulated for speech content? IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, DON'T BUY IT/LISTEN TO IT.

Note: I am not defending what was said on their program, only their right to be stupid and tasteless. I don't listen to them, never have.

opcorn:

So...how does someone decide whether a live radio broadcast is offensive enough not to listen to? The opinion of the press,the track record of the presenters, or do you just listen until they say something that you find offensive and then stop listening?

Before any television show or film ever makes it to air, it is thoroughly scrutinised by the company's lwyers and maketing groups, then passed on to a government agency which gives it a rating that determines the suitability of its content and the audience that it may reach. Live radio has no such checks and balances, leaving it wide open for garbage like this to be put out in public. Maybe there should be some kind of rating system for radio jocks, in much the same way as there is for other forms of public entertainment?

[03cavPA]

Originally Posted by taranaki

So...how does someone decide whether a live radio broadcast is offensive enough not to listen to? The opinion of the press,the track record of the presenters, or do you just listen until they say something that you find offensive and then stop listening?

I agree. How do we find out what is offensive before we hear it? I'd say a combination of the three things you mentioned are usually enough for most people. Track record seems to be the strong one.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I usually turn it off/decide not to tune in again once I hear enough to know that it's not something I'd want to listen to any more.

The thing is, all these guys (Imus, Opie and Anthony, et al.) have been doing this for a while. Did they finally step over the line, or are people becoming less and less tolerant of entertainment that is in poor taste? (I'd like to think it's the latter, but I'm not horribly optimistic).

[2.2 Straight six]

i think it's bad taste.

talking about raping people really isn't funny. i have 3 good friends who've all been raped. it's not funny in the least.

[whttrshpunk]

I for one do not need the FCC, nor any branch of any government screening my entertainment for me, telling me what is suitable and what isn't. I'm quite capable of deciding all on my own what I find offensive and what I find humourous. Then again, "the people" can't possibly decide on these important matters for themselves on a daily basis now can they?

[03cavPA]

I found an update:

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...-home-business

RADIO
Listeners shocked by XM hosts' suspension

Many cancel the service. Some suspect a proposed merger with Sirius is a factor in the punishment.
By Jim Puzzanghera and Amy Kaufman, Times Staff Writers
May 17, 2007

WASHINGTON — Satellite radio bills itself as the Wild West of the airwaves, an uncensored outpost beyond the reach of federal regulators where expletives fly with impunity and the banter can get as raunchy as at a strip club.

But the decision this week by XM Satellite Radio to suspend shock jocks Opie and Anthony for 30 days for crude sexual comments about First Lady Laura Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Queen Elizabeth II has listeners wondering whether there's a new sheriff in town.

Some XM listeners were outraged — not at the comments but at XM's reaction.

"I signed up for XM because it's uncensored. I like these guys because they are so unfiltered," said Placentia resident Paul Hebert, who canceled his $12.95 monthly XM subscription Tuesday in protest.

He wasn't alone. Hundreds of angry subscribers have flooded XM's operators with calls to cancel since the suspension was announced Tuesday. About 60 listeners smashed their XM receivers Wednesday outside the WFNY-FM studios in New York, where Gregg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia continued to air their tamer, over-the-air broadcast for CBS Radio.

"The reaction is mind-blowing," said Ryan Saghir of North Branford, Conn., who runs a blog about satellite radio called Orbitcast. "One of the main attractors to satellite radio is the unregulated content. Once you take away that … you're going to have some upset subscribers."

But industry observers said XM might have been more worried about offending federal regulators, who can block the company's proposed merger with its only rival, Sirius Satellite Radio, than staying true to its slogan, "Beyond AM. Beyond FM. XM."

Sensitivities have been heightened in Washington since the controversy over veteran shock jock Don Imus' racially offensive comments about the Rutgers University women's basketball team, which led to his firing last month by CBS Radio.

"It's hard to read anything into it other than that they're catering to federal officials," said William Kidd, a media analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities in Los Angeles.

XM spokesman Nathaniel Brown would not comment on whether the pending merger was a factor in the suspension and would not say how many people had canceled their subscriptions. XM has suspended on-air personalities before, he said, but none with as high a profile as Hughes and Cumia.

It's not the first time a skit has landed the two shock jocks in trouble. CBS Radio, then known as Infinity Broadcasting, fired them in 2002 for broadcasting two listeners apparently having sex in New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral. The Federal Communications Commission fined Infinity $357,000 for the stunt.

XM, which does not fall under the FCC's indecency rules because it is a pay service, hired Hughes and Cumia in 2004. Their program, "The Opie & Anthony Show," airs from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. on XM and 24 CBS radio affiliates, which picked the duo back up last year.

It continues until about 11 a.m. only on XM, a segment that the show's website touts as "uncut, uncensored and totally filthy."

On May 9, the XM portion of the show aired a skit featuring a character called Homeless Charlie, who graphically described having sex with Bush, Rice and the queen. Hughes and Cumia played along, laughing and asking questions.

XM issued a statement condemning the comments, and Cumia and Hughes apologized on the air Friday.

On Monday's show, Hughes and Cumia complained about "dumb rules" and an "umbrella of morality and decency" that led Imus and some other hosts to get fired. XM officials suspended the pair Tuesday, saying the comments "put into question whether they appreciate the seriousness of the matter."

Satellite radio followers said the suspension was unprecedented. Some XM listeners were stunned and angry when they heard about it.

Ed L. Kelley of Wagoner, Okla., said he spent six hours on the phone Tuesday night trying to cancel. He's talking to an attorney about a class-action suit, saying that because "The Opie & Anthony Show" appears on one of XM's "explicit-language" channels, the company has violated its promise to deliver uncensored content.

"These guys make me laugh and they make fun of everybody equally," Kelley said.

Debbie Wolf, co-founder of People Against Censorship, called the suspension "outrageous" and organized the demonstration outside CBS Radio's studios. Christopher Lewis of Glenmoore, Penn., quickly registered http://www.cancelxm.com , and the message boards there and on other satellite radio sites have filled up with dozens of angry comments.

"I will not support a company that has decided the one true reason they exist no longer matters," wrote one poster on Orbitcast.

Howard Stern, who left traditional radio in 2004 after battling regulators, also weighed in from his new post at Sirius.

"If you want free speech," he told his listeners Wednesday, "walk in a closet and talk to yourself."

Kidd said the suspension could make it difficult for XM to attract edgy radio personalities who have viewed satellite as a haven for their outrageous acts.

"This will probably be a decision that XM will have to live with and, I suspect, likely regret over time," he said.

The suspension would be as surprising as HBO pulling "The Sopranos" for offensive content and will reverberate through the industry, said Tom Taylor, a former program director who edits the trade journal Inside Radio.

"People in the satellite world have felt safe … until this week," he said.

[email protected]

I wondered if XM would see a backlash.

[00accord44]

This latest O&A incident seems no different than any of their previous gags gone wrong. They've covered the topic of raping women before on their regular show but I suppose this is worse because its Condi Rice So now they're suspended from their protective fortress of foul language... what the hell is XM good for then?

Really, should anyone be suprised when they hear ridiculous shit fly out of the mouth of a guy called Opie?