Popular shock jock Anthony Cumia, co-host of SiriusXM’s comedy show “Opie and Anthony,” took to Twitter in the early hours of Wednesday morning to blast out a vulgar, racist tirade about an African-American woman he claims assaulted him in Manhattan hours earlier.
Referring to his alleged attacker as a “cunt animal,” Cumia claimed he was taking pictures in Times Square when the woman, caught in one of the photos, became violent and punched him in the face. His tweets soon devolved into a rant about African-Americans as Cumia proclaimed black people to be “uncivilized” and “savage,” adding, “they aren’t people.”
Savage violent animal fucks prey on white people. Easy targets. This CUNT has no clue how lucky she was. She belted me 10 times. I had a gun
— Anthony Cumia (@AnthonyCumia) July 2, 2014
RT @HuntsvilleDore:a female beat u?
-No,an ANIMAL BITCH used it’s instinctual violence on me. I restrained myself from putting it to sleep
— Anthony Cumia (@AnthonyCumia) July 2, 2014
It’s a jungle out in our cities after midnight. Violent savages own the streets. They all came 2 defend this pig. I had to yell like at dogs
— Anthony Cumia (@AnthonyCumia) July 2, 2014
Claiming he was armed during the entire exchange, Cumia added that, were he an “illegal savage,” he would have shot the woman dead. He went on to post several photos of the woman.
On Friday, SiriusXM released a statement announcing the radio host’s firing:
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 once again jumped on Twitter to react to the news, complaining that network “decided to cave” and that he “wouldn’t apologize” for the racist rant.
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
Meanwhile, a handful of fellow comics and some conservative pundits defended Cumia; comedian Colin Quinn said:
.@AnthonyCumia Sorry Ant. I’m proud to see we live in a country that judges people by their words and not their actions.
— Colin Quinn (@iamcolinquinn) July 4, 2014
If I shun all the comics (black and white) I’ve known that have said racist things, I have only one friend left in comedy. #carrottop
— Colin Quinn (@iamcolinquinn) July 4, 2014
He shouldn’t taken pic. She shouldn’t cracked him. He shouldn’t tweeted about anybody except her. Sirius shouldn’t have fired him. #facts
— Colin Quinn (@iamcolinquinn) July 4, 2014
Frequent “Opie and Anthony” sidekick Jim Norton insisted that Cumia was the real victim, of assault (though Cumia himself stated he never felt threatened during the incident.)
Conservative journalist Charles C. Johnson also chimed in, announcing he was “disgusted” at the firing while Glenn Reynolds of the conservative blog Instapundit retweeted several tweets in support of Cumia. Finally, Robert Zimmerman, Jr., brother of George Zimmerman, supported Cumia’s right to free expression and reminded the shock jock that “[n]o one has right to assault you, or right to privacy in public.” Cumia retweeted Zimmerman’s message of solidarity.
John Derbyshire, Naomi Schaefer-Riley, Mel Gibson, Alec Baldwin, Gary Oldman, Phil Robertson, and now Anthony Cumia. ENOUGH is ENOUGH #cumia
— Charles C. Johnson (@ChuckCJohnson) July 4, 2014
@AnthonyCumia You take any public pics you want, and express yourself! No one has right to assault you, or right to privacy in public.
— Robert Zimmerman JR (@rzimmermanjr) July 3, 2014
[H/t Gawker]
