Richmond Radio: Urban One Under Fire For Demeaning Audio On WPZZ

Artist's Rendering

Cathy Hughes, the founder and chairperson of media company Urban One Inc., has come under fire for making divisive comments on a Richmond radio show about opponents to her company’s plan to open a casino in Virginia’s capital city.

The Washington Business Journal reports Hughes and other hosts on the “Richmond Grand Casino Update” radio show on Urban One-owned WPZZ 104.7-FM demeaned Richmond leaders and residents who oppose the company’s casino project, according to audio snippets posted online by anti-casino group No Means No Casino. The clips date from Oct. 18 to Nov. 1.

Allan-Charles Chipman, a former Richmond City Council candidate and casino opponent, accused Hughes on the social media platform X of calling him and other Black community leaders that oppose the project a derogatory term.

Cathy Hughes

The audio posted by No Means No Casino includes comments from Hughes where she compares divisions in Richmond’s Black community to “house and field,” using the N-word to describe both groups.

In another post on X, Chipman accuses Hughes and Gary Flowers, another host of the radio show, of "slandering" him by saying he is "paid by casino opposition."

In a separate audio clip from Preston Brown, the guest host of a program on Urban One-owned 99.5-FM’s The Box, he called casino opponent Paul Goldman “a white Jew with the background of Judas.” Goldman is a former chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia and was an adviser to several governors.

Urban One Regional Vice President Marsha Landess said in a statement that Brown will no longer appear on the station. “The anti-Semitic comments heard on The Box, 99.5 were made by a temporary guest host who was not an employee of the station," she said. "These statements were horrible and offensive. Once we heard the comments and because he was alone in the studio with his producer, I personally drove to the station and immediately removed him from the show.

Landess said in her statement that Urban One CEO Alfred Liggins, the son of Hughes, personally apologized to Goldman.

The casino project is up for Richmond ballot referendum on Tuesday. A similar casino proposal from Urban One was defeated at the polls two years ago.

Urban One and Churchill Downs have spent a combined $9.5 million on the casino referendum through the Richmond Wins Vote Yes PAC.