Buffalo Radio: WGRF-FM Fires 3 More Over 'Toast' Comments

There's more fallout at WGRF-FM in Buffalo after a morning host compared Black women's skin tones to toasted bread.

Cumulus Media, the owner of 97 Rock, announced last week that "Morning Bull" radio host Rob Lederman was let go and his other co-hosts, Rich Gaenzler and Chris Klein, were suspended.

Now Cumulus Media has also fired Gaenzler and Klein along with station program Director John Hager. Hager was inducted into the Buffalo Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2018.

"Cumulus Media operates from a clearly-defined set of programming principles and there is no question that Rob Lederman's comments made on 'The Morning Bull Show' are in direct violation of those principles," a spokesperson for the company said in a statement last week. "We apologize, and deeply regret the incident."

The company issued an additional brief statement Wednesday: "Upon further consideration following the racist incident that occurred on The Morning Bull Show, we decided to terminate the whole morning show in addition to the Program Director."

The remarks caught the attention of Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, among others, in which he condemned the comments, calling them "outrageous and intolerable. There is no place in our society for these statements or beliefs," he said. 

Various advertising partners of the show pulled their ads from the show due to the remarks. Pegula Sports & Entertainment also severed ties with one of the show's hosts, who served as an in-arena host for the Buffalo Sabres and Bandits.

Lederman told The Buffalo News that he was "horrified" by his words after he listened to a recording.