Last Friday, CNN finally got around to firing their resident doofus, Rick Sanchez. Sanchez made a name for himself on CNN by saying really dumb sh-t, and for this now infamous, hilarious video of cops laughing at him while they taser him. Anyway, Rick was finally sh-tcanned because he totally went off on an anti-Semitic rant during a radio interview. He was being asked about Jon Stewart, and somehow that got Sanchez thinking about how Jews control the media (audio at Gawker here, I also put the full interview at the bottom):
CNN’s Rick Sanchez was fired Friday after telling an interviewer that ‘The Daily Show’ host Jon Stewart is a bigot and that “everybody that runs CNN is a lot like Stewart,” The New York Times reports. Sanchez, a daytime anchor on the network, was making an appearance on comedian Pete Dominick’s satellite radio show Thursday when he made the disparaging comments.
After calling Stewart a bigot, Sanchez, who is frequently mocked on ‘The Daily Show,’ continued his tirade. Even when Dominick pointed out that Stewart is Jewish and a minority too, Sanchez kept going, saying, “I’m telling you that everybody who runs CNN is a lot like Stewart, and a lot of people who run all the other networks are a lot like Stewart, and to imply that somehow they, the people in this country who are Jewish, are an oppressed minority? Yeah.”
Audio of the interview went viral immediately and it wasn’t long before the anchor was let go from the network. Late Friday, CNN released the following statement: “Rick Sanchez is no longer with the company. We thank Rick for his years of service and we wish him well.”
Sanchez appeared on Dominick’s radio show as part of a tour promoting his book, ‘Conventional Idiocy.’ He hasn’t responded to requests for comment about the interview or his dismissal.
[From PopEater]
Ugh. Well… at least CNN fired him, right? Of course, they should have done that a while ago. Anyway, last night Jon Stewart and many, many other celebrities took part in an autism charity event last night, and Jon managed to get in a few digs about Sanchez:
Jon Stewart stayed mum during the recent commotion over at CNN, where Rick Sanchez was fired this week (after a six-year career at the network) because of inflammatory — now infamous — remarks he made on a satellite radio program about Stewart’s ethnicity and upbringing.
However, at a fundraiser in New York City last night, the stand-up comic in Stewart couldn’t resist making a few cracks about the controversy.
Playing emcee for the taping of Comedy Central’s ‘Night of Too Many Stars’ (airing Oct. 21), the ‘Daily Show’ star entreated viewers to donate to the cause of autism education, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Then he qualified the request, joking: “If you went on radio and said the Jews control the media…you may want to hold on to your money.”
In a clear reference to Sanchez (and his caustic public comments saying that people who are Jewish wield power at TV networks), Stewart added, “All he has to do is apologize to us, and we’ll hire him back.”
The aptly titled ‘Too Many Stars’ benefit was indeed lousy with comedy’s biggest names, including appearances by Tina Fey, Chris Rock, Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon and Tracy Morgan.
David Letterman made a punchline out of the CNN brouhaha, too, telling the crowd he was in town just “helping Rick Sanchez clean out his office.”
And making an appearance at the performance, even wry, retired anchor Tom Brokaw reportedly ribbed Sanchez while onstage.
[From PopEater]
I like the second one – “All he has to do is apologize to us, and we’ll hire him back.” It’s good that people are already making fun of Sanchez, because he totally deserves it, and laughing about it is better than having a “serious discussion” about anti-Semitism and the media. I just listened to the full interview excerpt (below), and this guy’s stupidity knows no bounds. He thinks he doesn’t have the career he wants because “guys like Stewart” keep him down – it’s like he’s never acknowledged that his own prissy martyr complex and unending stupidity is one of the big reasons he doesn’t have the career he wants. Here’s the interview:
It’s about time that fired that dumb asshole!
sanchez is a moron and never should have ascended to the heights he did in the media in the first place. but he perfectly reflects the larger issue of how debased teevee news has become.
lol well i guess he point WAS sorta proven if you think about it.
Ahh well.
Guys – I’m working at the telethon part of “Night of Too Many Stars” on October 21 – please watch and call in, the autism community needs money to keep the help and research coming!!
@Captaine-
That’s some frighteningly Orwellian thinking that Sachez displayed- and that you’re defending.
It’s a shame that all the arabs in positions of power in America didn’t defend him… Oh wait…
Sanchez is an idiot, but pointing out that the Jewish people hold a disproportionate number of positions of power in America is something of a no-brainer. How is this anti-semitic ? It is fact.
#6 — it’s not only the disproportionate numbers; it’s the ability to conduct full and honest debates about middle east policy — specifically israel’s outsized influence on congress.
but what’s esp funny about sanchez’s whining about not being one of the chosen — he’s cuban. ask around south florida about their outsized influence.
he should have been fired for being so damn dumb. news anchors should just read the teleprompter and keep their dumbass opinions to themselves. and honestly anyone who thinks CNN is the vanguard of journalistic integrity should think again; CNN is almost as dumbed down as fox news.
original kate, well said!
Good point, original kate; it is difficult to find reliable news sources that do not have a bias in one way or another.
I would recommend that if one gets BBCAmerica on his or her television, one should tune into BBC World News for comprehensive reporting. I am consistently impressed with what they cover.
OMG it only took 8 comments for Fox News to be brought into a debate about Comedy Central and CNN.
As far as Sanchez goes, it’s never a good idea to criticize your boss on national TV or radio.
Fox will probably hire him.
yes, BBC news is much better, less hyperbolic. i also really like the christian science monitor (they tend to cover things months before the mainstream media gets on board), and i like to read foreign newspapers. i avoid newsweek & time magazine because the articles are so sloppily written and researched.
Who runs Hollywood?
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/dec/19/opinion/oe-stein19
Seriously…Sanchez is a dork, but how is what he said wrong? By any metric, Jews are at the top of the heap in America, so no, they should not be considered an “oppressed minority,”
Well, here’s my two cents: I now live in the Bay Area. I moved here from Miami (also referred to as Northern Cuba). The Elian Gonzalez affair was the apex of Cuban arrogance and guess what? Sanchez, and the CANF were all over it. Sanchez is a self-entitled, wrongly opinionated ass. E-non is right; go to South Beach and see for yourself. South Florida is the only place I’ve ever lived where there is an entire culture that receives special treatment and still demands more. I also did NOT like the fact that Cubans on inner tubes are considered citizens when they touch US soil but Haitians are not. Where’s the fairness in THAT policy? Ugh, I’m so glad I left and brought my flag with me!
Jewish people are, pound for pound, the most well off people in the United States. A great percentage are college educated and have professional occupations. They are incredibly disproportionately represented in government and the media. what’s the freaking big whoop? Everybody knows this. At worst, these simple facts tend to suggest high achievement and perhaps a bit of nepotism, not too bad really. But, when you fire someone for pointing it out it looks EVIL and oppressive.
* Sigh * … people’s inferiority complex are their own doing (or undoing). I did like the guy though … he brought some energy to an otherwise staid news channel and enlivened my afternoons. Not excusing his immature and inappropriate outburst but hopefully he’ll learn from this lesson and get another shot at being a good newsman.
Well I didn’t know much about this moron, I tend not to watch cable news as the anchors add too much opinion. But he sounds like he should have been shown the door ages ago. Even if I think he made a valid point extremely badly. But only one valid point in a sea of verbal cock-up. I would think anyone calling the Jews of America an oppressed minority was doing some stand-up.
@ActanonVerb: Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
Jewish people should not be blamed for being successful!
There may be a lot of Jewish people in media but they don’t control the media. Corporations and conglomerates do. Rick Sanchez is an idiot.
Thank you original kate the “liberalism” of CNN, if that is what it is, is quite simplistic and perfectly complements opposite bias of Fox News. Who watches CNN anymore anyway?
There’s a lot Jews in Hollywood? WTF? Next you’ll be telling me that there’re a lot of African Americans in the NBA. 🙂
I don’t think Rick Sanchez understands the word ‘bigot’. After listening to that radio interview it’s clear that the bigot is Rick Sanchez. I don’t think Rick was fired for insulting Jon Stewart, he was fired for publicly insulting his employer. If any of us did that, we would be fired.
@ActaNonVerb: “But, when you fire someone for pointing it out it looks EVIL and oppressive.”
My take is, they did not fire him for simply pointing it out – it was his clear bigoted assery in pointing it out that led to his firing.
The Chinese are disporportionately represented in the sciences because their forefathers encouraged the sciences and hard work to prove themselves worthy US citizens in order to avoid the horror of the internment camps the US had inflicted on the Japanese.
Many ethnic groups have become successful here for one reason or another and most of the reasons are not at all nefarious – it is simply that they were very good at organizing and promoting themselves. Other ethnic groups have not been nearly as successful.
The very idea that Jews are more successful than any other segment of the US population is a myth and proves bias. It is an example of one person thinking of all the Jewish people he or she knows, and assuming that because they are all well-to-do than all Jews must be wealthy.
Sorry kids, your personal anecdotes don’t mean squat. All they do is contribute to the bigotry against Jews in this country. Even if you don’t intend to, you’re giving more power to supremacist organizations.
And for those of you saying Jews are not an oppressed minority – what are you on? I bet you think the Holocaust is made too big a deal of too, don’t you? Turn off the “News” and go read some actual studies about hate groups and you’ll find that their numbers have increased by over 100% in the last two years alone, including the neo-Nazi organizations.
And because I know you’ll immediately assume – no, I’m not Jewish. I’m an atheist. But when I see bullshit I call bullshit.
Shannon- excellent post
Ted Turner is not Jewish and neither is ruppert Murdoch. Fun fact- the 2nd largest fox news share holder is the same (Arab) guy who is funding the ground zero mosque…who knows what that means, but much of the “noise” we see/hear in media doesn’t tell the whole or even a small fraction of the story. I also watch BBCA’s news..you can also watch BBC news on most PBS stations and hear it on Sirius.
@Shannon – I do not believe that the Jews are an oppressed minority. I am black.
As terrible as the Holocaust was (the images still bring tears to my eyes), try 400 plus years of captivity. Try a continued life of not “knowing” who you are. Imagine your woman being raped and the men being emasculated. Children being ripped from the arms of their parents never to be seen again. Imagine. My people are still oppressed emotionally. Black men have a disconnect with being there for their offspring because for over 400 years they had no say in the matter anyway. For evey race that has dealt with some form of oppression none can relate to the slavery of my people than the years fo being lynched and Jim Crow and on and on.
Jews were held captive in concentration camps to work for no compensation, that’s slavery.
I agree with you that slavery was reprehensible and oppressive but the entire issue of Rick Sanchez is that he is trying to say the struggles of his minority are more valid than that of another minority. We should respect the history of all people and strive to treat everyone equally from henceforth, not have some sort of counterproductive historical oppression pis*ing contest.
Also, to say Rick Sanchez was fired for speaking his mind is a half truth at best. He was fired for trash talking his employer on national radio.
@ Tiffany I am also black believe me there is room for more than one oppressed minority. Jews suffered alot in the Holocaust, slavery was horrible, as was Aparthied, it’s also tragic that Native Americans lost their property and their population was decimated by war, and diseases brought over by Europeans in America.
The fact is Rick Sanchez should be more sensitive to other minorities then instead of promoting stereotypes because he is a minority.
@mln – You’re absolutely right, there’s plenty of room for more than one oppressed minority!
ANY sweeping statement about ANY ethnic group, culture, or religion is inherently inaccurate.
Dick Sanchez should have gotten the boot years ago anyway.
In 1939 the Jewish Population was 17 million, in 1945 it was 11 million. 6 million Jews were exterminated during the Holocaust.
Today the Jewish population worldwide is roughly 13.3 million people.
The percentage of Jews living in the US is .01% of the total population. Opressed Minority absolutely.
Anti-Semitism is reprehensible, glad Sanchez lost his job.
Ok so the Jews who have been discriminated against and had more than one group try to wipe them off the face of the planet have found a place where they can succeed. Big whoop.
And dude, I highly doubt it was the fact you’re Cuban that prevented you from being promoted. You don’t look it meaning they wouldn’t have held you back for that-if they did it would be illegal. I see you more as a reporter as well-it means i only have to listen to your idiocy for a few moments everyone in awhile rather than all the freaking time.
::edit::Tiffany, go back further than the Holcaust, go back to the bible. Jews were slaves to the Egyptians. While I’m not a slavery proponent, your ancestors were the victims of slavery, slavery that the “white man” learned from your own ancestors. When one tribe conquered another the loser were made into slaves. It’s the way it worked one upon a time, it’s horrible that it spread but it did. blacks were not the only ones who have been abused by history.
There is absolutely room for multiple minorities that have been abused. It just so happens that the Latino’s and the Black’s are easier to pick apart (not sure how to rephrase) because of ethnicity, whereas as many Jew’s are of Caucasian descent. Doesn’t mean they do not suffer any less than you.
My apologies to those who misunderstood my post. I replied solely to Shannon. Being a “minority” and being an “OPPRESSED minority” is not the same. The richest Americans are in fact a “minority” but they are in no way oppressed.
I gave reference to my culture as a testament to being “oppressed”. I in no way make light of the vile history visited upon many other cultures I was responding to the use of “oppressed minority” and speaking as a black woman.
Additionally, the concentration camps were not in the US. So when we speak of oppression here in America and an oppressed people in America IMO Jews are not an “OPPRESSED minority” in the true “literal” sense of being oppressed.
I hope I explained that better because I in no way meant to come across as being insensitive. I agree that there is much to say for the Native Americans as well but I spoke of my culture as I feel qualified to speak on.
@Obvious – I was responding to the previous posting then saw yours. It is my hope that once you have read my post before this that you understand what I was getting to. I was speaking solely on the basis of being oppressed in the US since Rick Sanchez was speaking about the Jews being in contol of here. I am very aware of the slavery practices in Africa and I submit to you that they were in no way the magnitude as they were here. But again I digress.
MY POST WAS SOLELY BASED ON THE USE OF THE TERM “OPPRESSED” MINORITY AS IT RELATES TO THE UNITED STATES.
all i heard in the interview was ”ME ME ME ME ME ME AND I ME ME ME ME ME”
@lena…ita.
#26 Shannon, please look into the politics behind the state of Israel, the satellite of the United States in the Middle East. Please consider the importance of petroleum in the modern world. Please consider that it is rare to find muslims in any position of power or importance in America, yet the jewish people are DISPROPORTIONATELY represented in positions of power and influence.
You must be doing some interesting mental gymnastics to chalk this up to “hard work”. I grew up in New Jersey by the way and I now live in San Francisco, my perspective could not be more varied or objective…
#33, The oppressed have now become the oppressors. Period. Your world-view is just too simplistic. Prejudice is bad !.. yeah, of course it is.
#39 I’m just stating the facts. not playing politics.
Statistically the #1 hate crime occurance toward any religious group in the US is against Jews.
Tracy, you accuse others of simplistic logic, but so is yours. No one said Muslims are not an oppressed minority in the US. Its funny that you call Isreal a “US satellite”. Try using your own words next time.
@Tiffany, that may have been what you meant, but it is not what you said. You never once stated it was in the United Stats. You mad ea generalization, but think about it this way6. Maybe in the US the blacks are “repressed” how about the Jews all over the world? Persecuted in different centuries on different continents, and still reviled today by more people than in the US.
You say Jim Crow laws were passed against blacks, look at Europe, how many laws before, during and after WWII were passed against the Jews.
You need to look at things on a wider scale than just say Jew’s are not oppressed. It seems to me it was a false statement since you did not clarify at the beginning, and because you brought worldwide facts into it, backtracking does nothing except say “oops, i was wrong but i’m going to gloss over it”.
@ obvious.
Dude, she actually came back with a post to clear up what she meant. Without tone and body language misunderstandings in text happen ALL the time. She could have ignored what you said or argued back but she actually had the courtesy to actually respond in as thoughtful a manner as she could.
Just let it go.
Rick Sanchez is a master tool.
I heard that he didn’t say ANYTHING about Jews how people are making it out to be. For all we know he was talking about class and the other guy was the one who brought up the word “Jew.”
There are so many other things about that interview that people let off like when he said that “he didn’t want to take away from John’s work.”
I for one think he was talking about “whiteness.”
In this country there was a time when the Irish and Italians were discriminated against and not seen as White. Eventually that changed and who wouldn’t see the Irish and Italian as “white” or as accepted White Americans if you will. Jewish people weren’t always accepted as whites either and then you could say they were called “cacausian ethnics” but Caucasian nonetheless.
I don’t think he was being irrational and paranoid or racist. He was talking about Whiteness and class. Hispanic people aren’t a race and they are not easily placed in anyone group, hence the made up terms “Hispanic” and “Latino” to classify them as others. Also, John Stewart grew up in an upper middle class home, didn’t he?
It’s just funny too that CNN put up with Lou Dobbs forever saying all the things that he did and this happens with Rick Sanchez and he is out? Crazy.
@melanie, I am free to state my feelings, and I was pointing out how it came across to me as well as my feelings on the matter. I’m sorry you don’t believe I have that right.
I do thank her for clearing it up, but it doesn’t not change the fact that it seems like she was backtracking when called out. There is nothing wrong with saying what is on my mind as you did as well.