Sports radio host Don Geronimo posted an apology Wednesday on Twitter after he was fired from WBIG-FM on Sunday for making sexist comments about reporter Sharla McBride at Commanders training camp last week.
“I deeply and sincerely apologize for the pain I caused WUSA sports reporter Sharla McBride,” Geronimo wrote.
“My attempts to be humorous and topical backfired, and I needlessly deprecated a professional colleague.”
During the Thursday radio show, Geronimo made several disparaging comments about McBride as she walked past the broadcast setup.
“Hey look, Barbie’s here,” Geronimo said to co-host Crash Young. “Hi, Barbie girl. I’m guessing she’s a cheerleader.”
While Geronimo acknowledged the hurt from his “Barbie” remarks, he said he wanted to correct “one inaccurate aspect” of previous reports.
“Contrary to those reports, neither I nor my producer used the word ‘tight’ to describe Ms. McBride,” Geronimo said in the statement.
“Rather, my producer used the word ‘tight’ –– a common term in the broadcast world that refers to seamless production –– to describe a technical aspect of our show that day.”
Geronimo has reportedly apologized to McBride, of WUSA9 Washington D.C., and said he hopes the two can have an in-person conversation at some point in the future.
“When I heard the comments made about me on the radio show, I felt incredibly insulted and embarrassed,” McBride said, according to ESPN.
“In my 17 years as a professional journalist, I have never been disrespected in such a blatant manner while trying to do my job. Their words were sexist and misogynistic. No woman should experience this in the workplace, and I appreciate the Commanders’ swift response in handling this matter.”
Geronimo and Young were held out of Washington’s Friday training camp while iHeartMedia, parent company of WBIG-FM, which signed a three-year partnership with the Commanders in 2022, investigated the incident.
“After an internal review, Don Geronimo is no longer an employee of WBIG,” iHeartMedia’s D.C. Region president Aaron Hyland said on Sunday.
“We take matters of this nature very seriously and this behavior does not align with our core values.”
McBride has yet to respond to Geronimo’s apology.
“I hope that Ms. McBride and the listeners who hear me will forgive me,” Geronimo said.
“I am better than this, and I promise to demonstrate that going forward.”
Read more
