A Comox, BC rock-radio host was fired last week in what appears to me to be a complete over-reaction to something he did on the air.
Justin “Drex” Wilcomes asked BC Premier Christy Clark what it was like to be a MILF? (For the unfamiliar, MILF is a hipster acronym for Mom I’d Like to F) Classy? No. Edgy and likely appropriate for a rock radio station? Absolutely. Clark didn’t bat an eye. She laughed and said it was better to be a MILF than a cougar. From what I understand there was no outrage from either the Premier’s office or the station’s audience. Some media coverage deemed the question inappropriate and if you’ve ever read, say, The Free Press, you’ll notice that when a select few reporters get hold of an idea they will do everything in their power to make an issue out of it whether or not there’s a real controversy. I’m making an educated guess that this is what happened and radio management, instead of defending their guy, turned tail and fired him.
Unless there was something behind the scenes that we don’t know about and they were just waiting for a reason to let this guy go, it seems like putting out a candle with a firehose. Wilcome was hired by a Vancouver station less than 24-hours after being let go from the one in Comox.
You wouldn’t say MILF on a family radio station, a Christian station or an easy-listening station. Had the Premier been offended and launched some sort of complaint, you would have an issue. MILF is a compliment, albeit a tacky one, and she rolled with it. Last week our morning show uttered the words “side boob”, “pissed off” and “scumbag”, to name a few. It’s rock radio. In the proper context, it’s expected.
And speaking of real radio, Humble and Fred continue to redefine what it means to be broadcasters in Canada. If you’re not up on the story, in a real nutshell the legendary morning hosts found themselves without work and decided to start their own podcast. It has grown a large and loyal audience and for a time they hosted mornings in Kingston from their Toronto studio. Now they’re going to be on CFRB 1010 in Toronto from midnight-2 am and will be carried on Funny 820 in Hamilton and Funny 1410 here in London, with other Astral stations likely coming on board. It appears the show will be an edited (and cleaned up!) version of the podcast they create every day. While I personally find the timeslot disappointing – that’s during my last gasp of sleep before the 3:30 alarm goes off – Howard and Fred are proving that you can pave your own way and talent wins in the end. They’re a little bit brave and a little bit crazy for sticking with radio after everything they’ve both gone through but that’s what it takes to be pioneers and I admire and respect them for it. Late-night radio will never be the same!