Anthony Cumia, the host of SiriusXM’s popular “Opie and Anthony” show, has been fired following racist remarks he made on Twitter this week.
“SiriusXM has terminated its relationship with Anthony Cumia of the Opie & Anthony channel,” Patrick Reilly, senior vice president, Communications, SiriusXM told TheWrap. “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.”
Reilly concluded: “Those remarks and postings are abhorrent to SiriusXM, and his behavior is wholly inconsistent with what SiriusXM represents.”
Also read: ‘Opie and Anthony’ Host Lashes Out With Racist Tweets After Alleged Times Square Assault
The satellite radio giant did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s inquiries about the future of the channel itself and of Cumia’s partner Gregg “Opie” Hughes. At the time of this writing, Hughes had not yet reacted to Cumia’s termination on social media.
Cumia tweeted the following on Friday morning:
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
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Cumia was taking photos in Times Square on Tuesday when he was allegedly assaulted by an African-American woman who didn’t want her picture taken. He then went on a tirade on Twitter, writing a slew of offensive and racists posts about the incident.
According to Cumia, the woman was in the frame of one of his shots, and upon discovering this, immediately assaulted him, punching him in the face. He proceed to call her an “animal bitch” and a “savage,” referring to her as “it” and stating that “they aren’t people.” He described the race situation in America as a “battle,” adding that “we are losing.”
“It’s really open season on white people in this day and age,” he wrote. “No recourse. Fight back and you’re a racist. The predators know this. Good luck”
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Cumia is no stranger to being terminated. The duo was fired from WAAF in 1998 for an April Fool’s Day prank in which they declared that the mayor of Boston died in a car accident. In 2002, they were canceled by WNEW after encouraging a couple to simulate sex in a church. Hughes and Cumia have endured many other suspensions in their careers.
Cumia promised that he’d speak out with details of the latest punishment soon, tweeting:
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