CBS Radio aborts show after shock jocks’ prank

Three weeks after the suspension of Jeff Vandergrift and Dan Lay, hosts of a shock radio program called “The Dog House with JV and Elvis”, as a result of their on-air prank call to a Chinese restaurant ordering “slimp flied lice”, CBS Radio spokeswoman Karen Mateo today announced that the show broadcast has been pulled off.

The suspension came on one month after CBS fired another radio host Don Imus in April for a comment he made about the Rutgers women’s basketball team calling them "nappy-headed ho's". Mr. Imus is now facing a $120 million breach of contract lawsuit.

On April 21, Mr. Vandergrift and Mr. Lay broadcasted a call to a Chinese restaurant ordering “shrimp flied lice,” in an exaggerated tone claiming to be a student of kung fu and that he compared menu items to employees’ body parts. They are also believed to have made sexual comments to the woman who answered the phone. The call hurt the sentiments of the Asian-American groups whose complaints led to the RJ’s suspension with pay, thus equalizing their penalty to that of Mr. Imus.

Two years ago, the two were fired in San Francisco for making sexual comments off the air to a woman who was in the studio to promote a charity event for a local drum and bugle corps.

The one after the other suspension certainly points towards the augmented scrutiny of RJ’s and the effective complaints management system. Seven groups petitioned to the network and protested outside its New York headquarters with 10,000 signatures gathered in four days. "In the wake of the Imus case, it would have been maddening to the community if these idiots did not get fired," said Queens City Councilman John Liu.

“This is a victory not only for the Asian-American community, but for all communities who find themselves constant targets of racist and sexist programming,” said Jeanette Wang, an executive with the Organization of Chinese Americans.

Other CBS shock jocks, Opie and Anthony whose time slot on WFNY-FM (92.3) was immediately before the former San Jose and San Francisco's morning team,“JV and Elvis”, were also under the suspension bracket because they laughed as a homeless man fantasized to rape Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice; First Lady, Laura Bush and Queen Elizabeth. But Opie alias Gregg Hughes and Anthony Cumia will return to air tomorrow after they submitted an apology to the station.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who played a role in Mr. Imus’s firing, said that Mr. Hughes and Mr. Cumia should also be fired.

The station spokesperson, Ms Mateo refused to comment on the details of JV and Elvis’s suspension and whether there will be any kind of relief for them.

But not everybody is standing against the shock jocks as more than 100 people came forward for a rally in Union Square in their support. “I find censorship to be far more offensive than anything that was said,” said Debbie Wolf of Far Hills, N.J., president of People Against Censorship.

Doghouse fans have also supported the duo on its website accusing the network of infringement on freedom of speech..

The introduction of a new law in March 2004 which increased the fines on radio stations for violating decency guidelines by a factor of nearly 20 have put the shock jocks in U.S under great pressure.