SiriusXM Fires Anthony Cumia After Twitter Rant

[Colorado Media Newsroom]

From All Access:



SIRIUSXM RADIO has fired OPIE AND ANTHONY co-host ANTHONY CUMIA for his Twitter comments about an incident he had while taking pictures in TIMES SQUARE earlier this week. A statement from the company issued FRIDAY (7/4) said, "SIRIUSXM has terminated its relationship with ANTHONY CUMIA of the OPIE & ANTHONY channel. The decision was made, and CUMIA informed, late THURSDAY, JULY 3, after careful consideration of his racially charged and hate-filled remarks on social media. Those remarks and postings are abhorrent to SIRIUSXM, and his behavior is wholly inconsistent with what SIRIUSXM represents."

The incident involved a woman allegedly attacking CUMIA for taking a picture that included her, and his responses, as chronicled in a series of tweets that said she had punched him and he responded verbally with insults. The tweets drew the attention of several websites, including GAWKER, and the resultant furor led to CUMIA's dismissal.

On FRIDAY, CUMIA tweeted, "SIRIUS decided to cave and fire me. Welcome to bizarro world. Fired for sh-t that wasn't even on the air & wasn't illegal. So, who's next?" When a listener asked, "Not suspended? Fired, so fired?," CUMIA responded, "Fired, fired, so fired." And he added, "After the wkend, I'll have a better idea of things. Fu-k SIRIUS. I'll pop on the COMPOUND show (his online video show) next week and discuss this with TOTAL FREEDOM."

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