Hartford Radio: WTIC-FM Pulls Craig Off-Air After Pushback

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UPDATE 2PM 6/29/26 :   Gary Craig, of 96.5 TIC-FM, was not on air Wednesday and will not be for the rest of the week, according to station manager Steve Salhany.

"Gary's video was inappropriate and was not in line with our station's values," WTIC-FM said in a statement. "We are taking this matter seriously and have communicated to Gary that there is no place for this type of content on our station."


Earlier Posting...

Mayor Luke Bronin joined other city leaders in denouncing what they consider a "racist" video posted online by a longtime Hartford-area radio personality, according to the Hartford Courant.

Gary Craig, morning host on WTIC 96.5 FM, uploaded the video to YouTube Saturday with the title "Latino Fest Fartford." In the minute-long clip, Craig walks through the Latino Fest held that day on the city's riverfront.

"I walked into some kind of parallel universe or something. What the hell?" Craig says in the video. He then takes a walking tour of the festivities, later commenting "now I don't have to go to Cuba," mistaking the Puerto Rican flag for the other Caribbean nation's before singing the theme song to "I Love Lucy."

He removed the video Tuesday from YouTube and his personal Facebook page after the officials spoke out about it. WTIC-FM, which had displayed the video on its website, also took it down.

The mayor called the video "repulsive and bizarre.”

In a statement released by the mayor's office Tuesday afternoon, Bronin said: "I was at the riverfront Saturday afternoon, and the festival was everything I love about our city: people of all different backgrounds coming together at our beautiful riverfront to celebrate the dance, music and food of one of our largest and most vibrant cultural communities here in Hartford. CBS Local Media, the owner of 96.5 TIC FM, should get this trash off of their website."

Brett Broesder, Bronin's spokesman, said the mayor acted after members of the community brought the video to his attention. A representative from CBS, the parent company for WTIC, reached out to the city Tuesday evening, seeking to have a conversation about the video, Broesder added.

Craig told The Courant Tuesday afternoon that he "wasn't trying to offend anybody and was just trying to have fun." Hours later, the station released a written statement of apology from Craig, saying: "I recognize that it was a poor attempt at being humorous. It was insensitive and stupid, and I sincerely apologize."

In addition, Ryan Jones, WTIC's program director, issued a statement on the station's behalf: "Gary's video was inappropriate and was not in line with our station's values. We are taking this matter seriously and have communicated to Gary that there is no place for this type of content on our station."