Rick Sanchez, CNN anchor fired after Jon Stewart rant
CNN has fired anchor Rick Sanchez following a radio rant Thursday night where he called Jon Stewart a "bigot," blamed CNN brass for discrimination against him and insinuated that the media industry is controlled by Jews. The network announced Sanchez's dismissal in a statement early Friday evening:
“Rick Sanchez is no longer with the company. We thank Rick for his years of service and we wish him well,“ the statement said.
Sanchez's controversial interview occurred on the final day of his show in the 8 p.m. time slot, where he was replacing Campbell Brown, who departed in May. Angry about being replaced by CNN's new "Parker Spitzer" talk show and the constant jokes made at his expense on the "Daily Show," he lashed out on at his perceived enemies — CNN brass, Jon Stewart and Jews.
Sanchez went on Pete Dominick's Sirius XM show to promote his new book, "Conventional Idiocy." While on air, he called Stewart a "bigot," implied that CNN is controlled by Jews and that the network passed him over for promotion because he's Latino.
Sanchez's controversial comments began when he suggested that he had been marginalized by CNN brass because they're "elite Northeastern establishment liberals" who won't let him anchor because they reserve the top jobs for "the high-profile white guys."
Sanchez ended up attempting to back off the comments slightly. "I'll take the word 'bigot' back. I'll say prejudicial — uninformed," he said.
He also revealed the true reason for his hatred of the "Daily Show": Jon Stewart makes fun of him all the time. Sanchez said he believes his race is the thing that makes him a "target" for Stewart.
"When you turn on a show or listen to someone's writings, and they minimize you and treat you like you don't matter, like you're just a piece of ... you're just a dumb ... like you're a dumb jock, or a dumb woman, or a dumb Puerto Rican, or a dumb Cuban or another dumb Mexican, which is the way I feel when I watch Jon Stewart.
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