New York station Hot 97 is hoping to draw a line under the outrage that followed the broadcast of that parody track 'The Tsunami
Song' on their breakfast show by firing two of the show's team.
As previously reported, the show aired the spoof song, sung to the tune of charity record 'We Are The World', last month, causing a barrage of complaints from offended listeners.
It turned out that one of the breakfast show team - Rick Delgado
- wrote and produced the song, while his colleague Todd Lynn allegedly made racially insensitive remarks. They are the two employees to be fired by the station. Their colleagues Miss
Jones, DJ Envy and Tasha Hightower are all on a two week unpaid suspension.
The station's parent company, Emmis Communications, confirmed they would donate those three employee's pay for those two weeks to the tsunami relief effort, as well as donating a million dollars themselves. Emmis President Rick Cummings said the actions of Lynn and Delgado were "socially and morally indefensible,"
and said his company was "ashamed" by the tasteless stunt, adding: "Emmis and Hot 97 have investigated this matter thoroughly over the course of the last week. Our decision to terminate Mr Delgado and Mr Lynn while suspending the other members of the morning crew sends a message that this type of insensitivity is utterly unacceptable."
Delgado is no stranger to controversy. He was sacked from radio station
WNEW for his involvement in organizing an on air promotion that awarded prizes to listeners who had sex in public places - a promotion which led to two listeners being arrested after they had sex in New York's Saint Patrick's Cathedral.