WWL Radio tweets homophobic slur about WWL sports reporter Seth Dunlap (2 Viewers)

[SaintJ]

Cue “Its raining men”

Just saw this. Kudos. Very deftly played.

 

[Bayouboy]

I happen to agree with Brown. Looks like he is setting himself up for a pay day.....especially taking time off of work. What better platform to use than your own show to better the cause for gay rights and bring awareness to how hurtful these slurs can be. Instead, he took the time to "decompress". If I were a betting man, it's not the first time he was called a name....and I'm not saying this because he's gay. (sticks and stones saying from childhood). Missing work will give him some leverage on the settlement.

 

[You]

Perhaps the night it happened he was shocked by it. Perhaps that kind of thing takes a bit of time to sink in . . . and hurt.

I don't know, I'm a white heterosexual male. I have never had go to through something like that, much less on a public platform that is supposed to be my "home". I imagine that can be difficult to really process . . . and terribly, terribly saddening.

Have you been through a similar episode? Tell us about how you processed it.

Well, I’m a person that believes that we all have a choice in what, or even if, we get offended. It’s not easy but we have the choice.
We live in a litigious climate though and there is a monetary remedy for being ‘hurt’- emotionally or otherwise. We get groomed to be sensitive. We get groomed to look for reasons to be hurt.

That said- I think Seth has a right to be offended. I also think, as I posted, that WWL intended to embarrass him ie ‘hurt’ him. That is important. “Intent” is a big deal.

Being emotionally hurt IS a choice though.

If Seth wants to make a legal case, he could. His actions of late, lend credibility to his being hurt.
Any plaintiff attorney worth his salt could make a case out of this. I’d be shocked it he hasn’t been called by at least 2 attorneys at this point.

But maybe you’re right and he wants to put it behind him and stick around, working for WWL.

Call me cynical or maybe not even cynical but realistic. It’s just too easy here. He has a good case. He seems to be somewhat of an activist (see Brees article). And it looks like he believes he’s been hurt(missed work, posted on twitter about needing time) . And I disagree with you that the single tweet is not enough. It’s enough. But I’d bet there is more...
So I Expect WWL is going to be sued, they’ll settled and Seth will move on.

I could be wrong.

Ps:Whether I’ve been hurt by someone and how I got through it is immaterial. Fwiw, I’ve had my share of troubled times. I don’t pretend to walk in Seth’s shoes.

 

[superchuck500]

I happen to agree with Brown. Looks like he is setting himself up for a pay day.....especially taking time off of work. What better platform to use than your own show to better the cause for gay rights and bring awareness to how hurtful these slurs can be. Instead, he took the time to "decompress". If I were a betting man, it's not the first time he was called a name....and I'm not saying this because he's gay. (sticks and stones saying from childhood). Missing work will give him some leverage on the settlement.

It happened less than 48 hours ago. A working professional who happens to be gay was called a gay on the official public messaging platform of his employer. Have any of us gone through something like that? If not, I don't think we can possibly relate enough to make estimations about what his state of mind actually is at this point.

Honestly, I think saying that none of this is his genuine response and that he's just positioning himself for litigation is, itself, pretty offensive and hurtful. Maybe ya'll are right and I'm just being naive, but I really find that take to be in very poor taste. I'll leave it alone, y'all are certainly entitled that view. I just suspect it's quite a bit more complex emotinally than "sticks and stones" and move on.

 

[GrandAdmiral]

If WWL (through Entercom) has a strong anti-harassment policy and provides training to staff on said policy, plus have evidence of them thoroughly investigating and resolving other harassment claims, there is not much of a case against them. He'll be free to sue the individual if he wishes, but he's likely on the losing end with WWL.

 

[Optimistic Ozzy]

I agree that we have a generation of people that are looking to get offended. Sensitivity is at ridiculous levels.

Seth's post on Facebook is essentially saying that he finds it hard to believe that Brees didn't know what FoF was about. I don't care if he did or didn't know. While I don’t think Brees needed to apologize for anything, I believe him in his explanation.

Seth is gay and felt the need to call Brees out and I guess WWL gives him the right to express his own views. I disagree with Seth but WWL calling him a gay on twitter was stupid and childish. I also believe it was intended to be hurtful.

Yesterday, Christian Garick started his show with a statement about it and then went on to do the show with Bobby Hebert. Interestingly, Seth didn’t do his show. He said that he felt overwhelmed and needs time to decompress. Local tv station fox 8 is running with the story and reporting on it at every chance.

Not sure where this is headed but I still think it’s headed for a lawsuit. Seth originally behaved as a person not offended but now, Seth has let it be known that he’s offended. He took off work. He tweeted about being upset. He’s acting like a plaintiff at this point. I expect that Seth is going to leave WWL and will receive a settlement.

We’ll see.

If WWL (through Entercom) has a strong anti-harassment policy and provides training to staff on said policy, plus have evidence of them thoroughly investigating and resolving other harassment claims, there is not much of a case against them. He'll be free to sue the individual if he wishes, but he's likely on the losing end with WWL.

And WWL has to rule out that it wasn't Seth himself who sent the tweet.

 

[crosswatt]

I agree that we have a generation of people that are looking to get offended. Sensitivity is at ridiculous levels.

This is a bit of projection to assign it to a "generation". Conservatives whine. So do liberals. Young people do, as well as middle aged and old. Black, white, red and yellow, yes all those that "are precious in his sight", pitch fits all the time about anything that bothers them.

And those who don't have a particular whiny complaint at the ready are the first to plaintively grumble about "why is (insert their current object of derision) offended? What's wrong with them? They need to get over it."

Yes, sensitivity is at ridiculous levels. But deflecting it onto a different grouping of people is ignoring the root problem of our inability to see things thrugh someone else's eyes and not dismiss it just because we don't "get it".

 

[crosswatt]

My question is: why did people get offended by what Brees had to say? It seems as though everybody is just sittin' around waiting to get offended these days.

No one was offended at what Brees had to say. It was the implied association with an organization that many feel is extremely prejudiced and that actively works to harm people in the LGBTQ+ community. And some feel his comments addressing that he doesn't discriminate was fine in a vacuum, but didn't go far enough in creating separation between him and the organization. I don't think anyone feels he's a bigot or anti anything, but just that he's not totally getting why they were upset in the first place.

Fortunately for him, WWL just went all "hold my beer"...

 

[JimEverett]

It happened less than 48 hours ago. A working professional who happens to be gay was called a gay on the official public messaging platform of his employer. Have any of us gone through something like that? If not, I don't think we can possibly relate enough to make estimations about what his state of mind actually is at this point.

Honestly, I think saying that none of this is his genuine response and that he's just positioning himself for litigation is, itself, pretty offensive and hurtful. Maybe ya'll are right and I'm just being naive, but I really find that take to be in very poor taste. I'll leave it alone, y'all are certainly entitled that view. I just suspect it's quite a bit more complex emotinally than "sticks and stones" and move on.

He could be getting legal advice to "ham it up" or whatever. He may also feel that way himself. Fact is, we don't know. But I don;t think wanting to take time off and/or reflecting on what happened is any way outrageous or odd. In fact, I think most people would be troubled enough to want some time off - that's got to be shocking and hurtful. And no doubt, most people would want their employer to actively remedy the situation.

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

And WWL has to rule out that it wasn't Seth himself who sent the tweet.

Huh? Why would there be a burden on someone to prove they didnt do something like this ‘himself’? Because one guy in Chicago faked an assault a few months ago? Now anyone who gets harassed has to prove they didnt harass themselves? That is crazy, delusional thinking.

 

[Optimistic Ozzy]

Huh? Why would there be a burden on someone to prove they didnt do something like this ‘himself’? Because one guy in Chicago faked an assault a few months ago? Now anyone who gets harassed has to prove they didnt harass themselves? That is crazy, delusional thinking.

Crazy and delusional huh? Whatever, it happens all the time. No burden of proof for Seth, it's WWL who has to rule it out.

 

[insidejob]

Not to mention, WHERE IS THE APOLOGY?

Not just to Dunlap, but to everybody. It's an astonishing breach of decency, and I'm not sure you need to do a full investigation before apologizing that either (1) someone with responsibility did this or (2) the systems and protocols designed to prevent this kind of thing weren't good enough.

JHCIACB.

Scoot did an entire hour of his show on this yesterday and he apologized to Seth just for being associated with the station since the tweet came from their account. He said that no one of any significance who works there has anything but love for Seth, and I can buy that. The dude is the best sports host they have. I catch his show for about 30-40 minutes a few times a week. Most of the public had no clue he was gay, so they can't pretend like the account was hacked (even though he's openly gay) so they are going to have to "out" the person who made the tweet. It's not like it's an account that can just be accessed by anyone who works for the station, so the list can't be that long. They better do something quick. Scoot apologizing ain't enough, but I can see why he did because he often gets callers who call in accusing him of being gay on the air and via text.

What was amazingly pathetic were the calls in to Scoot's show in support of the tweet. The people of Louisiana are some of the most backwards people on earth.

 

[insidejob]

I was wondering why he wasn't on last night. Wednesdays are the night every week that I get to listen to him.

 

[Brad Mojo]

Fortunately for him, WWL just went all "hold my beer"...

Agreed - Drew Brees hacked WWL and planted the post. Brilliant.

 

[sammymvpknight]

I’m sorry, but Mr. Dunlap’s open letter is absurd. Everyone is a hate group today. You can’t have an opinion on ANYTHING without being labeled as a hate group. I’m tired of the political intimidation on both sides. If you are a Christian you should be able to be aligned with organizations that have a cause that you believe in without harassment, vilification, and character assassination. Just as a gay person should be able to align themselves with organizations that have a cause that they believe in without harrassment, vilification, and character assassination. We are in a bad state as a society when tolerance from both sides is nowhere to be found to the point that nobody is even allowed to have an opinion.