Opie & Anthony’s Anthony Cumia Fired After Racist Twitter Rant
Anthony Cumia, who hosted SiriusXM’s Opie & Anthony show alongside Gregg “Opie” Hughes, has been fired by the satellite radio provider following a social media rant in which he insinuated that black people are “savages,” and and questioned the humanity of people of color.
The Inquisitr reported upon Anthony Cumia’s Twitter tirade yesterday, in which the host said some stunningly racist things about a woman he claims “assaulted” him on the streets of New York City unprovoked.
With apologies for language, the tweets in question included but were not limited to:
I told them to back the fuck off, this wasn’t their show. The cunt then punched me again. Seems white boys don’t hit back. Lucky savage.
— Anthony Cumia (@AnthonyCumia) July 2, 2014
Im fucking livid. If I was an illegal savage I’d have shot her. The I are violence in her was so predictable. I hope she gets killed.
— Anthony Cumia (@AnthonyCumia) July 2, 2014
Cumia added:
They aren’t people.
— Anthony Cumia (@AnthonyCumia) July 2, 2014
However, we initially had some doubt that Anthony’s story was truly as one-sided as he made it out to be. The host seemed to indicate that the woman he alleges attacked him became violent after she walked into a frame — but images he posted of that night also suggest that his intent may have been taking “creepshots” of women’s backsides as they walked by:
Now, this girl seemed nice enough. pic.twitter.com/foKe7PtV3B
— Anthony Cumia (@AnthonyCumia) July 2, 2014
Late last night, Gawker received a statement from SiriusXM Senior Vice President of Communications Patrick Reilly, who confirmed that Anthony Cumia’s racist Twitter rant had led to his termination:
“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.”
Cumia has also posted about his termination from SiriusXM, first cryptically replying:
RT @jlsturge: @AnthonyCumia suspended? For being attacked? -Suspended? Haha, no, not quite.
— Anthony Cumia (@AnthonyCumia) July 4, 2014
Then he seems to suggest that SiriusXM chose to terminate his employment not because of the content of his racist Twitter rant, but because of unspecified pressure under which they “caved” — to our knowledge, no campaigns or calls to fire Cumia occurred:
Sirius decided to cave and fire me. Welcome to bizarro world. Fired for shit that wasn’t even on the air & wasn’t illegal. So, who’s next?
— Anthony Cumia (@AnthonyCumia) July 4, 2014
He adds:
RT @TedChrist: @AnthonyCumia Not suspended? Fired, so fired? -Fired, fired, so fired.
— Anthony Cumia (@AnthonyCumia) July 4, 2014
After the wkend, I’ll have a better idea of things. Fuck Sirius. I’ll pop on the Compound show next week and discuss this with TOTAL FREEDOM
— Anthony Cumia (@AnthonyCumia) July 4, 2014
When fans propose a campaign to bring Cumia back, he simply replies:
RT @TheRealDray: @AnthonyCumia is there anything fans can do?!! Petition @SIRIUSXM? -Cancel? Ha
— Anthony Cumia (@AnthonyCumia) July 4, 2014
In his most recent tweet, Anthony Cumia says SiriusXM fired him from the Opie & Anthony show in “one email.”
[Image: Fox News]
