CNN Fires Rick Sanchez After Radio Meltdown

CNN has fired anchor Rick Sanchez, following a radio rant Thursday night where he called Jon Stewart a "bigot," blamed CNN brass for discrimination against him and insinuated that the media industry is controlled by Jews.

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The network announced Sanchez's dismissal in a statement early Friday evening: “Rick Sanchez is no longer with the company. We thank Rick for his years of service and we wish him well,“ the statement said.

Hunter Walker at thewrap.com reports Sanchez had gone on Pete Dominick's Sirius XM show to promote his new book, "Conventional Idiocy." While on air, he called Stewart a "bigot," implied that CNN is controlled by Jews and that the network passed him over for promotion because he's Latino.

The controversial interview occurred on the final day of Sanchez's show in the 8 p.m. timeslot, where he was temporarily replacing Campbell Brown, who departed in May. He was apparently upset that he was not given the slot permanently.

Instead, the network gave the slot to the new talks show "Parker Spitzer," with Kathleen Parker and Elliot Spitzer. The show launches Monday.

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