MSNBC has suspended Ed Schultz, host of the “The Ed Show,” for one week without pay for calling conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham a ‘right-wing slut’ on his syndicated radio program Tuesday.
“Remarks of this nature are unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” MSNBC said in a statement.
MSNBC said Schultz will address the remarks on his show Wednesday night, and begin his leave immediately afterward. He will return on June 6th.
“MSNBC management met with Ed Schultz this afternoon and accepted his offer to take one week of unpaid leave for the remarks he made yesterday on his radio program,” MSNBC said.
Schultz’s suspension is the latest in a string of reprimands by the cable network in the last year. Keith Olbermann and Joe Scarborough were both suspended after making political donations without first alerting their bosses, a violation of NBC News policy.
Olbermann’s suspension went a long way toward weakening his relationship with MSNBC management, to the point that they parted ways earlier this year, leaving it without its highest-rated show host and architect of its current left-leaning slant.
“The Ed Show” moved from 6 p.m. to its current 10 p.m. slot after Olbermann’s departure caused a shuffling of MSNBC’s prime-time lineup.
The Daily Caller first noted the epithet in the midst of Schultz’s critique of Ingraham’s criticisms of President Barack Obama’s trip Ireland. “And what do the Republicans thinking about?” Schultz said. “They’re not thinking about their next-door neighbor. They’re just thinking about how much this is going to cost. President Obama is going to be visiting Joplin, Mo., on Sunday but you know what they’re talking about, like this right-wing slut, what’s her name - Laura Ingraham? Yeah, she’s a talk slut. You see, she was, back in the day, praising President Reagan when he was drinking a beer overseas. But now that Obama’s doing it, they’re working him over.”
“Re. the crude comments made about me by Ed Schultz on his radio program: First, I was surprised to learn that Ed Schultz actually hosted a radio show. Is it only available online?” she wrote.
“Second, I have to get back to recording the audio edition of my new book “Of Thee I Zing.” Now I’m tempted to insert one additional zing—about men who preach civility but practice misogyny.”
Schultz began his career as a right-wing talk radio host himself, but had a change of heart in 2000, becoming one of the most prominent progressive voices on the radio. In 2009, he was given his own show at MSNBC, where he became the voice of the working-class, pro-union left, known for his over-the-top bombast.
Women’s groups normally inclined to line up behind conservative talk radio hosts reacted angrily to Schulltz’s comments. The Women’s Media Center, the nonprofit founded by Jane Fonda and Gloria Steinem, sent out an alert urging MSNBC to suspend Schultz.
“While conservative bloggers and watchdog organizations are highlighting Schultz’s remark, the Women’s Media Center also calls on MSNBC to suspend Schultz for his comments, since they not only attack Ingraham, but all women,” the group wrote in an alert Wednesday, according to the Daily Caller. “Ms. Ingraham is no friend to the Women’s Media Center, but a sexist and misogynist attack based on her gender and not her political views or comments is harmful to women in media, politics, and beyond.”
Schultz’s temper has reportedly gotten him into trouble before. Page Six reported in August that he threatened to “torch this [bleep]ing place” after MSNBC failed to include him in election-night promos. Sources said that MSNBC brass threatened to fire him if he repeated the outburst, though MSNBC declined to comment on it at the time.
A month later, TV Newser reported that he was reprimanted by MSNBC brass for calling New Jersey Governor Chris Christie a “cold-hearted fat slob.”
Poster Comment:
Admitting that he's the lowest of the low, should improve his rating with progressives.
