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For two, tsunami joke is a swan song

BY RAFER GUZMÁN | STAFF WRITER

February 2, 2005

Hot 97's tsunami song has sunk two station employees.

Morning personality Todd Lynn and producer Rick Delgado were fired yesterday for "displaying gross insensitivity and making offensive remarks," according to a statement from Emmis Communications, which owns Hot 97 (WQHT/97.1 FM). But Miss Jones, who leads the morning crew that aired the song, will get her job back after a two-week suspension.

"An internal investigation by Hot 97 and Emmis determined that the singularly egregious actions of Lynn and Delgado warranted termination," the statement said. Delgado was fired "for his role in writing, producing and airing" the song, which mocked tsunami victims. Lynn (who after the song aired remarked, "I'm going to start shooting Asians") was fired "for making offensive, racially insensitive comments while on the air."

The firings, effective immediately, come two weeks after the song's initial broadcast and a few days after Hot 97 indefinitely suspended morning crew members Miss Jones, DJ Envy and assistant Tasha Hightower. Emmis said yesterday their jobs would be reinstated after two weeks, next Wednesday. Another morning show personality, Miss Info - who is Asian-American and objected to the song - was not suspended.

The suspended employees' salaries for the two weeks they're out will be donated to the tsunami relief efforts of Give2Asia. Emmis itself will give the organization $1 million.

Despite on-air apologies from the hosts, Asian advocacy groups and several New York City Council members called for dismissals, protesting outside the station and persuading high-profile companies - including McDonald's, Sprint and Toyota - to pull their advertising.

Advocates for Asians responded unfavorably to Emmis' announcement and continued to call for Miss Jones' termination. "I'm not clear on what role Miss Jones and DJ Envy played in this situation, but they clearly had a role," says Kai Yu, director of Asian Media Watch in Yonkers. "You'd think that Miss Jones has creative authority over the pieces that she airs. If that is true, two weeks is not adequate."

Councilman John Liu of Flushing called Emmis' actions "grossly inadequate." Miss Jones, he said, should "spend two weeks visiting orphanages in Indonesia and Sri Lanka so she can become a better person."

Until yesterday, Lynn had been trying to arrange a meeting with several Asian advocacy groups, said James Fujikawa, co-founder of the Manhattan-based Asian Media Watchdog. "He wanted to set the record straight to say that he's not the one who made a decision on this song," Fujikawa said.

But Monday night, he said, Lynn told him, "You got your wish, man. I'm fired. I'm gone."