ASHBURN, Va. — A local radio personality was fired after making disparaging, sexist remarks about a sports anchor live on his show during Commanders training camp. Now, he is offering an apology for those remarks.
WBIG "BIG 100" radio presenter Don Geronimo was let go Saturday after an internal review by parent company iHeart Radio.
His termination came after both he and Crash Young were barred from broadcasting at Washington Commanders training camp in Ashburn, Virginia Friday morning following comments made during their radio show Thursday. Commanders' leadership banned iHeartMedia from all broadcasting on the premises Friday.
"Hey look, Barbie's here. Hi, Barbie girl," Geronimo shouted to WUSA9's Sharla McBride, while live on air Thursday as she was walking in to cover the team's training camp activities. "I'm guessing she's a cheerleader."
Later in the broadcast, Geronimo again spotted McBride as she was conducting interviews.
"Oh hey. There's that chick that you thought .. said tight," said Geronimo.
"Yah. I screamed tight when she was .." said Crash before being interrupted.
"I think. I think she's a sportscaster at Channel 9. Or Channel 7," said Geronimo.
"Yeah, She's familiar," replied Crash.
"I thought she was a cheerleader," said Geronimo.
In a statement released Wednesday, Geronimo said he "deeply and sincerely" apologized.
"As has been reported, I insensitively used the terms 'Barbie,' 'Barbie girl,' and 'chick' when talking about Ms. McBride, a fellow broadcaster who I did not know or recognize, when she walked by our broadcast position," the statement reads. "My attempts to be humorous and topical backfired, and I needlessly deprecated a professional colleague."
In the statement, Geronimo took issue with his use of the word "tight" as previously reported.
"I want to correct one inaccurate aspect of some media reports," Geronimo writes. "Contrary to those reports, neither I nor my producer used the word “tight” to describe Ms. McBride. Rather, my producer used the word “tight” – a common term in the broadcast world that refers to seamless production – to describe a technical aspect of our show that day. The timing of it was unfortunately misconstrued in some reports as part of my reference to Ms. McBride."
In 2022, during the Dan Snyder era, the Washington Commanders signed a three-year partnership deal with iHeartMedia.
McBride said she was hurt and incredibly offended that after 17 years as a journalist, sexist comments like that discredit her as a professional. She called it inappropriate, unprofessional and embarrassing. McBride did not hear the comment nor did she report it to the Commanders. Backlash from those supporting Geronimo continues to target McBride.
"We have worked hard to ensure that everyone feels safe and respected in our workplace, and we took swift action when we learned that an employee of our partner iHeart made sexually disparaging remarks to and about a member of the media while she was broadcasting live from training camp yesterday," a Commanders spokesperson wrote in a statement to WUSA9 following the initial events.
Geronimo said he has reached out to McBride to apologize and that he hopes to do so in person.
"I hope that Ms. McBride and the listeners who heard me will forgive me. I am better than this, and I promise to demonstrate that going forward," the statement says.
There has been no word on Young's status with the radio station.
RELATED: Radio personality Don Geronimo fired for making derogatory comments about a WUSA9 sports reporter
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