Halle Berry Claps Back At Fired Radio Host For Racist Comments
Halle Berry is responding to a New York radio host’s racist on-air comments about her and other Black women celebrities.
The actress, 54, tweeted a 45-second clip of 97 Rock host Rob Lederman’s show in which he compares her skin tone to numbered toast settings. Berry was compared to women like Serena Williams and Gayle King.
"Disgusting. It's ridiculous this type of nonsense is still being broadcasted across airwaves," Berry tweeted on Friday (March 26). "ALL Black women are beautiful and worthy, Rob Lederman. GTFOH."
Lederman, in the clip from The Morning Bull Show from Wednesday, prefaced his comments with, "I may get into trouble for this."
A day later, a spokesperson for Cumulus Media stated to PEOPLE that Lederman had been fired, citing that his comments “are in direct violation” of their “programming principles.”
"We swiftly terminated him and suspended the remainder of the show's on-air talent,” the company added. “We apologize, and deeply regret the incident."
After the incident, Lederman told The Buffalo News he was “horrified” when he re-listened to the recording of the broadcast and said he “could easily see how someone could be offended by that.”
"It sounds terrible, and it is terrible... Now, can I take back those words? No. If you listen to them, were they meant to be hurtful? Absolutely not," he told the outlet.
Lederman also said he hoped to “learn from” the incident and offered an apology to "anybody that would be hurt" by what he said on-air.
