People all over corporate America and beyond are being called out, and in many cases, fired over racist comments. The most notable of late is powerful ABC exec Barbara Fedida, who was pushed out after racist remarks.
Ironically, Fedida was in charge of hiring and diversity programs. The ABC News executive has been put on administrative leave while the network investigates claims of insensitive and racist remarks after HuffPost’s Yashar Ali investigated Fedida’s extensive history of insensitive and racist remarks.
Sources told HuffPo that Fedida routinely dismissed or belittled concerns from Black staff about the lack of diversity efforts, and even excluded Black staff from initially planning a town hall broadcast with President Barack Obama about race relations in 2016, BusinessInsider reported. ABC News and The Walt Disney Company, its parent company, have paid out millions of dollars in settlements against Fedida. She was also subject to more than a dozen HR complaints, according to HuffPo.
During tense contract negotiations when “Good Morning America” co-anchor Robin Roberts sought more money, Fedida said it wasn’t as if the network was asking to “pick cotton.”
“There are deeply disturbing allegations in this story that we need to investigate, and we have placed Barbara Fedida on administrative leave while we conduct a thorough and complete investigation,” ABC News said in a statement to Huffington Post. “These allegations do not represent the values and culture of ABC News, where we strive to make everyone feel respected in a thriving, diverse and inclusive workplace.”
Fedida has been with ABC since 2006.
She isn’t the only notable person in trouble for racially insensitive remarks. There has been an apparent surge in such firings across industries, according to Associated Press.
A writer from a “Law & Order” spinoff and the play-by-play broadcaster for the NBA’s Sacramento Kings both found themselves out of jobs after posting messages on social media that their bosses found too incendiary or insensitive, AP News reported.
Craig Gore, who has worked on the shows “S.W.A.T.” and “Chicago P.D.,” was fired from the upcoming “Law & Order: Organized Crime” spinoff due to his Facebook posts. In one post, Gore posted a photo captioned “Curfew…” in which he’s shown holding a rifle on his front porch, and in another full of expletives, he threatened to shoot looters who come near his home.
About Gore’s firing, “Law & Order” franchise creator Dick Wolf said, “I will not tolerate this conduct, especially during our hour of national grief.”
Grant Napear, longtime TV announcer for the NBA’s Sacramento Kings was fired from his talk radio job after he tweeted “ALL LIVES MATTER” and more to former Kings player DeMarcus Cousins after he had been asked his opinion on the Black Lives Matter movement, Fortune reported.
Bonneville International, owner of the radio station that fired Napear, said in a statement, “The timing of Grant’s tweet was particularly insensitive.”
Napear later tweeted, “I’ve been doing more listening than talking the past few days,” and “I believe the past few days will change this country for the better!”
Reality TV stars aren’t immune either from being fired for racist remarks. Bravo has fired two “Vanderpump Rules” stars for racial insensitivity actions.
Stassi Schroeder and Kristen Doute were fired after news broke about their past racially insensitive behavior against a fellow cast member who is Black. “VPR” cast member Faith Stowers said in a recent interview that Schroeder and Doute once called the cops on her in 2018 and tried to accuse her of crimes she hadn’t committed.
“Stowers said that an article was posted online about an African-American woman who was allegedly wanted for theft, and Schroeder and Doute thought Stowers looked like the woman and reported her,” Fox Business reported.
Schroeder also lost multiple brand sponsorships such as shaving brand Billie and vitamin startup Ritual. In addition, the “Next Level Basic” author was dropped from her PR company, UTA, according to Page Six.
Both Schroeder and Doute have since apologized.
Additionally, two other cast members were also let go — newcomers Max Boyens and Brett Caprioni, who both had racist tweets from their pasts uncovered.
“Bravo and Evolution Media confirmed today that Stassi Schroeder, Kristen Doute, Max Boyens and Brett Caprioni will not be returning to Vanderpump Rules,” Bravo told Fox News in a statement.
Cancel culture seems to be catching up with many people in the wake of the murder of George Floyd on May 25 by police.
The list of those canceled keeps growing day by day — and in nearly every industry.
On June 10, the Poetry Foundation announced the resignation of president Henry Bienen and board chair Willard Bunn III. Both faced backlash for a Foundation’s statement on Black Lives Matter and overall lack of inclusivity.
“Over 1,800 poets, educators, and readers signed an open letter and list of demands, calling the statement ‘worse than the bare minimum’ and advocating for a more diverse leadership and greater financial support allocated to programming that engages with marginalized populations,” Los Angeles Magazine reported.
In the media, a number of editors and writers have been canceled in recent days.
The now-former editor of the New York Times editorial page, James Bennet came under fire after running an inflammatory op-ed by Republican Sen. Tom Cotton advocating the use of military force to suppress protests. Times staffers argued that Cotton’s ideas should have been more appropriately handled in a reported news story. Soon after, Bennet resigned.
At fashion and lifestyle website Refinery 29, top editor and co-founder Christene Barberich stepped down on June 8. This came after a number of former employees shared posts on social media detailing their experiences of discrimination at the company. “I’ve read and taken in the raw and personal accounts of Black women and women of color regarding their experiences inside our company at Refinery29,” Barberich wrote on Instagram, LA Magazine reported.
The infamous longtime editor of Vogue, Anna Wintour was called out by tenured fashion editor André Leon Tally in his new memoir, “The Chiffon Trenches.” Tally wrote he often felt dismissed by Wintour because of his race. Wintour admitted on Twitter there have been “hurtful and intolerant mistakes” at the magazine while she was at the helm and a failure to find “enough ways to elevate and give space to Black editors, writers, photographers, designers, and other creators.”
Racist remarks by people in real estate have also come to light.
Listen to GHOGH with Jamarlin Martin | Episode 72: Jamarlin Martin Part 2. J Edgar Hoover, the first director of the FBI, may not be around but his energy is present in new Black politics.FBI agents and informants were used to weaken Marcus Garvey, the Nation of Islam and the Black Panthers — in many cases for money and career advancement. How could this energy metastasize into the “New Blacks” politics in 2020? Jamarlin goes solo to discuss who is doing the trading and what is being traded to weaken the aggregate Black political position.
A Harford County, Maryland real estate agent and the county’s association of Realtors came under fire after he posted racially insensitive comments to Instagram, some dating back to at least 2016, The Baltimore Sun reported.
Realtor Ryan Jones, in one instance, posted a picture of himself and another man at Boone Hall Plantation in South Carolina with the caption, “If you were cotton, I’d pick you.” Jones and others continued to make cotton-related remarks on the post as others expressed concern. Jones works in the Bel Air office of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices PenFed Realty and the company distanced itself from his comments, saying they do not represent the company’s views.
