Boston Radio: 98.5’s Tony Massarotti Apologizes

WBZ-FM 98.5 The Sports Hub talk show host Tony Massarotti has apologized yet again.

More than a year after Mazz was suspended for comments he made about Black people, the “Felger and Mazz” co-host on Thursday addressed using the term “zipperhead” on air.

Zipperhead is a racial slur referring to Asian people. Clint Eastwood’s character in “Gran Torino” uses the racial slur.

The term has other definitions, describing narrow-minded people.

Mazz used the term to describe Gen Z during the show on Wednesday.

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— Dave Cullinane (@davecullinane) October 16, 2024

“Gen Z, which I’ve determined incidentally that Z stands for zipperhead,” Mazz said, noting that he had spoken with Gen Z 98.5 baseball nerd Tyler Milliken about the Red Sox having two finalists for the Gold Glove award, despite the Sox having the most errors in baseball.

Mazz addressed using the term during the afternoon radio show on Thursday.

Mazzarotti

“I made reference to Tyler Milliken and people his age and their reliance on some of the metrics, and how I didn’t believe in them, and in so doing, I used a derogatory term that was unbeknownst to me,” Mazz said. “I didn’t know that this term had a derogatory connotation.”

“I have since come to the realization that historically, there is some derogatory context for that term, which I assure you I did not know,” he added. “Nonetheless, in so doing, if you are among those who I offended, I apologize for that. It was not my intent. I can you assure of that. I had no idea that the word had that meaning. As such, I won’t use it again. You’ll never hear me use it again, on the air or off.”

Last February, Mazz was suspended for his “insensitive” and “hurtful” comments about Black people sitting behind his 98.5 co-host Mike Felger, warning Felger that they might steal his car.