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The Asian American Journalists Association Tuesday urged iHeart Media to suspend a radio host with a history of making offensive and racist jokes.
The Media Action Network for Asian Americans just last week called for sanctions against Los Angeles radio host Bill Handel of KFI. The group says the popular commentator has a pattern of making racist dog eating and other jokes about Korean and Chinese Americans.
AAJA joined the demand for KFI’s parent company to take action after station management ignored calls for a meeting with MANAA.
“KFI-AM 640 has allowed a harmful pattern of promoting stereotypes against Korean and Chinese Americans, said the statement from AAJA. “Relying on and perpetuating stereotypes could potentially endanger Asian American and Pacific Islander communities that have already experienced increased anti-AAPI incidents and crimes.”
MANAA documented five separate incidents from May 21 through October 3 when it said Handel made racist remarks on the air.
Those comments under the guise of comedy or satire ranged from mentioning Koreans when referring to “obnoxious people” who “speak no English( @6:37)” to dog and cat recipes from Koreans and Chinese (@15:42).
This is not MANAA’s first encounter with Handel.
In 1996, he agreed to demands from the group for a public apology following saying he was “tired of seeing slanted-eyed figure skaters winning all the time.”
AsAmNews reached out to iHeart executives and KFI, but has not heard back.
In 2005, the National Association of Broadcasters presented him with its “Major Market Personality of the Year” award and in 2009 he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
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