Atlanta radio station apologizes after Steve Gleason remarks

Gleason, who has ALS, found himself in the news after a segment on 790 The Zone making fun of his disease sparked national outrage. The station has apologized for the segment and the hosts have been fired. Gleason’s response is short but eloquent, from the Team Gleason Facebook page:

A well-written, classy response, but that shouldn’t be a surprise if you read his masterful guest column on Peter King’s Monday Morning Quarterback.

Stupidity is a timeless part of the human condition. Times change; stupidity remains the same. Witness the events of Monday, when three radio personalities associated with the morning radio show on 790 The Zone in Atlanta decided to do a humorless sketch mocking former New Orleans Saints player Steve Gleason, who is suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS, more commonly known to Americans as Lou Gehrig’s disease. They did not stop to think that this might be offensive to many, even those who, before that moment, might have had little or no awareness of Steve Gleason. They only knew that they had time to fill.

And so they plunged ahead and attempted to use ALS as a vehicle for -- what? It’s clear listening to the bit that even they were uncomfortable with what they were doing. But if a blank page is oppressive to a writer, dead air is downright frightening to a radio man. There are broadcasters who fill those minutes intelligently and tastefully, regardless of how little material they might be supplied with at a given moment in time. Others, who can only supply “Mayhem in the AM,” sacrifice credibility, dignity, and respect, both of self and of others, to the frantic attempt to gain and retain an audience. In that pursuit, anything is fair game, even the suffering of others.

For everything that a heated Internet conversation about the boundaries of comedy can be -- the first two that come to mind are “oddly punctuated” and “depressing” -- it’s possible to say with some certainty that said discussion won’t be settled before everyone gets sick of talking, hearing or reading about it.

It’s maybe more accurate to write that said arguments are generally settled at the start and that the small sliver of rhetorical real estate that’s being fought over is pretty insignificant -- both in general and often to the people doing the arguing, relative to the amount of common ground in play. There are some people who insist on simply “not getting” certain obvious and generally agreed-upon things, but there are far more people that do.

Full statement:

The hosts of “Mayhem in the A.M.” made fun of the Saints cult hero by having a fake Gleason “call in” with a mock robot voice. You can listen here if you would like, but the whole bit isn’t particularly funny. At times, it’s unclear whether the hosts think the joke is a good idea, but they push on anyway.

The hosts of the segment appear to realize immediately that the bit was a terrible idea, but they continue with it for several minutes, forcing laughter and poking fun at ALS. It is certainly a tough listen regardless of your comedy tastes.

Although the hosts of the morning show on 790 The Zone have been suspended in response to the bit (within hours of the show’s airing), many fans and media personalities are calling for a boycott of the station, including Alex Marvez of FOX Sports.

After sports-talk morning show Mayhem in the A.M., which airs on Atlanta radio station 790 The Zone, made fun of former New Orleans Saints player Steve Gleason, who has ALS, the station has suspended the show indefinitely.

A statement on the incident is posted on the station’s official Facebook page:

An archived version of the show was not available online Monday morning. In fact, the show’s online archives haven’t been updated for several days on the station’s website.

Gleason filled in for Peter King at Sports Illustrated for this week’s edition of Monday Morning Quarterback.