Pittsburgh Radio: Wendy Bell Officially OUT At KDKA Radio

Radio host Wendy Bell has officially left KDKA 1020 AM, a spokesman for the station’s parent company said Friday.

“Wendy Bell is no longer with KDKA, and we mutually agreed to part ways,” Entercom said in a statement.

Bell declined to comment further about the situation with KDKA Radio, but said she will continue to stream her show on her website. She also streams the show on a Facebook page.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” Bell said during a phone call with The Tribune-Review.

Bell was taken off the station’s afternoon lineup Sept. 4 after she suggested park rangers “shoot on sight” people who deface public monuments.

The statement was recorded in a video June 26 during her live radio show and published on Facebook, where Bell looks into the camera and says: “My easy solution for the park rangers and hopefully snipers who are going to be watching for this is to shoot on sight.” Bell then imitated the sound of a gunshot. “Shoot! Done! No more messing with monuments. You want to mess with a monument? Done! Get out!”

The video clip was posted to Twitter on Aug. 31 by an anonymous user under the name “Coco.”

Wendy Bell encourages shooting on sight. @KDKARadio @Entercom @DavidFieldETM @PghProtests #FireWendyBell #BoycottWendyBell #PittsburghProtests pic.twitter.com/YH4IGzgdMO

— Coco (@Loco412Coco) September 1, 2020

The Twitter account also posted a video snippet of Bell delivering a message to protesters, saying that “the silent majority is pissed and they are armed and they are ready. So, don’t muck with us.” Though the earlier clip had been broadcast and publically available since June 26, it did not attract attention until the Twitter posting in August went viral.

“Entercom is the home to thousands of voices representing Americans of all races, ethnicities, gender identity, sexual orientation, beliefs and ability,” the company said in a statement issued when Bell was taken off the air.

“We take very seriously our responsibility to provide a platform for our communities to engage in diverse and meaningful dialogue, debate and the right to freedom of speech, we do not condone the incitement of violence on any of our platforms,” the statement said.

Bell’s comments have also spurred KDKA-TV, which is owned by Viacom and isn’t affiliated with the radio station, to distance themselves from Bell.

She joined the radio station in 2019.

Prior to that, Bell was an award winning anchor at WTAE-TV. She was fired in 2016 for comments she posted online in the aftermath of a shooting in Wilkinsburg that used racial stereotypes and generalizations to talk about the crimes.

Bell alleged she was discriminated against when she was fired and sued WTAE’s parent company Hearst. She settled the lawsuit in 2018.