Springfield MO Radio: Personality 'Fired For Being Gay'

Jennifer Scott

The host of a morning show on Country KOMG 105.1 FM in Springfield, MO has told the News-Leader Friday she believes she was laid off because of her sexual orientation and advocacy — a claim a company official flatly denies.

"It's humiliating, and I am absolutely 100 percent convinced this has to do with my sexuality and my advocacy on behalf of my community," said Jennifer Scott Stevens, who went by Jennifer Scott at 105.1 Bob FM.

Jason McCuthin, general manager of Mid-West Family Broadcasting Group — which owns four Springfield radio stations — says the termination of Stevens' employment was entirely "a budgetary decision."

Bob FM is eliminating its morning show, he said, and looking to allocate resources elsewhere within the company.

"Her strengths don't fit with what we're looking for," McCuthin said Friday afternoon.

Stevens said her boss informed her after she finished Friday's 6 to 10 a.m. show that she was being let go for budgetary reasons.

The decision took Stevens by surprise. She had been recently given the opportunity to become a shareholder in the company. Stevens described that as happening about six weeks ago; McCuthin said the offer was extended about four to five months ago.

Stevens said her co-workers and bosses knew she was gay, and married to a woman. She spoke at the Greater Ozarks PrideFest in 2013 and 2014, but she says her sexual orientation wasn't widely known until she mentioned it in a weekly News-Leader feature that profiles southwest Missouri business people.

Stevens said she thinks the company chose to bow to pressure she believes it received from advertisers and others regarding her sexuality following the News-Leader article.

"We have other people on staff who have the same lifestyle, and they get the same support she did," McCuthin added.

McCuthin said Stevens was the only person laid off by the company Friday and that he didn't foresee any additional layoffs within the next year. Bob FM's morning show will go to a music-only format.