Boston Radio: Beasley Media Suspends Sports Hub Host Tony Massarotti

The Sports Hub's Tony Massarotti

Beasley Media has suspended 98.5 The Sports Hub host Tony Massarotti for the rest of the week without pay, days after he made a comment with racist overtones during Friday’s program, reports The Boston Globe.

Massarotti, cohost of the afternoon drive “Felger and Mazz Show,” apologized for the comment during Monday’s show, calling his words “hurtful” and “insensitive.”

On Tuesday, he was absent from the program, which also includes cohost Michael Felger and third voice Jim Murray. Felger opened the show by reading a statement from Beasley Media, the Sports Hub’s parent company.

“Tony, if you were listening yesterday, he made a heartfelt apology about comments that he made on the show on Friday, which were insensitive and hurtful,” said Felger. “Because Beasley Media strives to create a diverse and inclusive workplace [and] these comments went against these core values, the company has decided to suspend Tony for the rest of the week without pay.

“In addition, all of our on-air personalities at Beasley Boston will be taking sensitivity training to redouble our efforts to create a culture of understanding.”

The incident occurred late in Friday’s show. While Massarotti and Murray were in the Sports Hub’s Waltham studio, Felger was cohosting remotely from a hotel in New Orleans. He was participating in the show while people milled behind him in the hotel’s business center, where he set up because the WiFi wasn’t working in his room. At one point, two Black people were behind him, and Felger assured them that he would be off the air in a couple of minutes and out of the business center.

Felger and Mazz with some not - so - subtle racism on the show last week.

Nothing tops Dennis and Callahan with the zoo/gorilla comment.

Give that one a Google.

pic.twitter.com/wXfXK36sh7

— Savage (@SavageSports_) February 20, 2023

That exchange prompted Massarotti to say, “I want to know now who the two guys behind you are, that’s what I want to know. Because if I were you …”

Then he added, “They can’t hear us, right? OK, so I would be careful if I were you, because the last time you were around a couple of guys like that, they stole your car.”

Massarotti was referencing a previous New Orleans trip by Felger, when he left his keys in a car and it was stolen.

After reading the Beasley statement, Felger added a personal thought.

“We all feel really bad about this, starting with the fact that it was said in the first place,” he said. “Minorities in this country do have to put up with a lot of crap, and comments like that just make it harder for them. We apologize for that."