# Anthony Cumia of "Opie and Anthony" fired for "racist tweets" **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 5, 2014, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381 "2014-07-05T00:02:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/1 "2014-07-05T00:02:23Z")
All of the reports are saying that he was fired for a “racist Twitter rant”, etc. I didn’t read anything racist, but he was certainly pissed and called her everything except the n-word. I’m not sure whether to put this here in Cafe Society, or in GD or the Pit, so I’ll start here. Here are some links: > **[SiriusXM Host Claims "Cuntrag" Assaulted Him in Racist Twitter Rant](https://www.gawker.com/siriusxm-host-claims-cuntrag-assaulted-him-in-racist-1599491744)** > > Anthony Cumia, one half of the SiriusXM's comedy show The Opie & Anthony Show, claims to have been assaulted by a woman in Times Square Tuesday. According to his Twitter feed, he was apparently trying to take photos of the area when the woman was... [http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/07/04/radio-host-anthony-cumia-from-opie-and-anthony-says-hes-been-fired-for-a-twitter-rant/](http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/07/04/radio-host-anthony-cumia-from-opie-and-anthony-says-hes-been-fired-for-a-twitter-rant/) What astounds me is all of the commenters claiming that he is a racist asshole because he called her a “savage” and an “animal” for attacking him. Apparently the word “racist” has been diluted to the point that saying something bad about anybody with a different ethnic background makes you a racist. The weird thing is that he didn’t call the police or make a report. He just claims that it happened. Therefore, people are doubting his version of the story. (IDK that there is another version of the story). Another angle is that O&A have admitted that years ago they wanted to get fired from their Boston job (for a prank on Mayor Menino\*) so that they could take a better job in New York. They complain a lot about stuff at SiriusXM and have implied that their next destination is podcasting, which they have already started. I like their show and listen to them when I can, so I tend to believe his version. However, something is very fishy about the whole thing. Thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/2 "2014-07-05T00:19:56Z")
> [@Rucksinator](#): > > All of the reports are saying that he was fired for a “racist Twitter rant”, etc. I didn’t read anything racist That’s literally the most racist rant I’ve heard a public figure make in many years. Considerably worse then Clive Bundy or that Basketball owner. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/3 "2014-07-05T00:31:49Z")
> [@Anthony Cumia](#): > > She’s lucky I was a white legal gun owner or she’d be dead. Then 5 blacks started giving me shit! > [@Anthony Cumia](#): > > Seems white boys don’t hit back. Lucky savage. > [@Anthony Cumia](#): > > They aren’t people. > [@Anthony Cumia](#): > > RT @tikiruss: @AnthonyCumia WTF? For no reason? > > -Reason!?? I WAS WHITE!!! > [@Anthony Cumia](#): > > Savage violent animal fucks prey on white people. > [@Anthony Cumia](#): > > The automatic jump to violence in that community is astounding. > [@Anthony Cumia](#): > > There’s a deep seeded problem with violence in the black community. Try to address it and you’ll be exiled to racistville. But it’s real. If that’s not racist, there’s no such thing. Is that the argument you’re trying to make? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/4 "2014-07-05T00:41:29Z")
Those tweets were completely racist. > [@Rucksinator](#): > > What astounds me is all of the commenters claiming that he is a racist asshole because he called her a “savage” and an “animal” for attacking him. Apparently the word “racist” has been diluted to the point that saying something bad about anybody with a different ethnic background makes you a racist. No. But when you say that black people are savages who gang up to attack white people and should be treated like animals, then that’s racism. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/5 "2014-07-05T00:52:34Z")
Anything that gets those fuckwits off the radio makes me happy. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/6 "2014-07-05T00:55:58Z")
These are “morning zoo” type DJ’s, right? Maybe that kind of rhetoric needs wacky sound effects to work. ---
**Author:** ![chicagowhitesox1173](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/46a35a/32.png) [@chicagowhitesox1173](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chicagowhitesox1173)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/7 "2014-07-05T01:03:09Z")
This guy gets beat up by 5 or 6 people, of course he’s gonna be mad. I don’t know the whole story but if he got beat up for taking a picture then I think he was a victim of hate crime. I can’t imagine what everyone would be saying if a black guy got beat up by 5 white guys for taking pictures of a white girl. ---
**Author:** ![chicagowhitesox1173](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/46a35a/32.png) [@chicagowhitesox1173](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chicagowhitesox1173)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/8 "2014-07-05T01:26:43Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Those tweets were completely racist. > No. But when you say that black people are savages who gang up to attack white people and should be treated like animals, then that’s racism. I think even you would be pissed if you got beat up under the same circumstances. I seriously doubt you would cast this off as just a random beating too. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/9 "2014-07-05T01:28:43Z")
> [@chicagowhitesox1173](#): > > This guy gets beat up by 5 or 6 people, of course he’s gonna be mad. I don’t know the whole story but if he got beat up for taking a picture then I think he was a victim of hate crime. I can’t imagine what everyone would be saying if a black guy got beat up by 5 white guys for taking pictures of a white girl. Then why the living fuck wouldn’t you, you know, call the cops or make a report? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/10 "2014-07-05T01:29:34Z")
> [@chicagowhitesox1173](#): > > This guy gets beat up by 5 or 6 people, of course he’s gonna be mad. I don’t know the whole story but if he got beat up for taking a picture then I think he was a victim of hate crime. I can’t imagine what everyone would be saying if a black guy got beat up by 5 white guys for taking pictures of a white girl. Even by his own version of the story, he wasn’t beaten up by five people. The other people involved “gave him shit”. The girl was the only one that (allegedly) hit him. ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/11 "2014-07-05T01:32:34Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Those tweets were completely racist. > No. But when you say that black people are savages who gang up to attack white people and should be treated like animals, then that’s racism. If he had said that all black people were savages who gang up to attack white people…, then that would be racist. But that’s not what he said. (Unless you think that the “community” that was was referring to includes all black people, which I don’t.) ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/12 "2014-07-05T01:40:57Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > If that’s not racist, there’s no such thing. Is that the argument you’re trying to make? Yes, I believe that racism is believing that other ethnic groups are inferior to yours. A google search of “racism definition” seems to back me up on this. > [@](#): > > [RACISM Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/racism) > a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one’s own race is superior and has the right to rule others. As I said before, the word “racist” has been used so loosely to include anyone who says anything bad about anyone of a different race/ethnicity. If I said that I hated the 9/11 hijackers would that make me racist against Middle Easterners? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/13 "2014-07-05T01:41:36Z")
> [@Rucksinator](#): > > If he had said that all black people were savages who gang up to attack white people…, then that would be racist. But that’s not what he said. (Unless you think that the “community” that was was referring to includes all black people, which I don’t.) Read it again. Its extremely clear that that “those people” are blacks. He references her race and his race half a dozen times, says “those people” and “that community” (and in the last post “the black community”) without referencing anything other then the peoples invovled race, and says “they” blame slavery. Not to mention “jungles, savages, slaves, animals and home-boys” aren’t exactly race-neutral references. You have to be seriously driven to find a non-racist read on that rant. ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/14 "2014-07-05T01:52:13Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > Then why the living fuck wouldn’t you, you know, call the cops or make a report? > [@Simplicio](#): > > Even by his own version of the story, he wasn’t beaten up by five people. The other people involved “gave him shit”. The girl was the only one that (allegedly) hit him. Yeah, as I said, the story is kinda fishy. For those that don’t follow the show, he has several cop friends, including “Club Soda Kenny” who is a retired NY police officer that drives either him or Opie to and/or from work every day, as well as “Kieth the cop” who, at least for a while, lived in Anthony’s mansion\*. Also, he implied that he was carrying a weapon on him at the time, but he is often complaining about how even his CCW license doesn’t allow him to bring a weapon into NY City. So was he legally able to have a weapon on him where he was? Could that have been why he didn’t call the cops (having a retired NYC cop as a chauffeur isn’t going to get you out of a weapons charge, I wouldn’t think.) Given the current climate, it seems that nobody is going to dissect the particulars of his story because everybody reporting on it is too busy pointing out how non-racist they themselves are. I was hoping that we could avoid that here. - This is information that I have gathered by listening to the show when I am in my car, which is now only for a few minutes at a time. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/15 "2014-07-05T02:11:44Z")
> [@chicagowhitesox1173](#): > > This guy gets beat up by 5 or 6 people, of course he’s gonna be mad. I don’t know the whole story but if he got beat up for taking a picture then I think he was a victim of hate crime. I can’t imagine what everyone would be saying if a black guy got beat up by 5 white guys for taking pictures of a white girl. > [@chicagowhitesox1173](#): > > I think even you would be pissed if you got beat up under the same circumstances. I seriously doubt you would cast this off as just a random beating too. Of course I’d be pissed. But I’d be pissed at the five or six people who beat me up. I wouldn’t be pissed at everyone who happened to have the same color skin as the five or six people who beat me up. If you’re the victim of a black criminal and you decide that all black people are criminals, you’re a racist. ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/16 "2014-07-05T02:12:17Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Read it again. Its extremely clear that that “those people” are blacks. He references her race and his race half a dozen times, says “those people” and “that community” (and in the last post “the black community”) without referencing anything other then the peoples invovled race, and says “they” blame slavery. Not to mention “jungles, savages, slaves, animals and home-boys” aren’t exactly race-neutral references. > > You have to be seriously driven to find a non-racist read on that rant. Yes, I am quite aware that the people that he had a run in were black. I thought it was clear that his use of words like “savages” and “animals” were based on their behavior, not their skin color. I didn’t see where he called anybody a slave. Again, I don’t think that he meant “black community” to refer to all Africans. (Otherwise, he would have said something actually racist like “black race” or “black species”, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/17 "2014-07-05T02:12:37Z")
> [@Rucksinator](#): > > Yeah, as I said, the story is kinda fishy. I wasn’t discussing his story, I was discussing your and whitesox’s story. You both said there was some sort of group beating. That wasn’t even in the DJ’s story. He said the other people “gave him shit”, but the woman was the only one he claimed to hit him. I’m not sure it really matters if his story is true or not. His rant is still over-the-top racist. Sirius was correct to fire him. > [@](#): > > Given the current climate, it seems that nobody is going to dissect the particulars of his story because everybody reporting on it is too busy pointing out how non-racist they themselves are. I was hoping that we could avoid that here. I don’t think anyone cares about the “he-said/she-said” story. There are probably a dozen “he shoved me first” physical confrentations in Time Square every night, no one cares. The guy printed a rant attacking black people as animals, savages, etc. That’s the scandelous bit, and what people will be interested in discussing. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/18 "2014-07-05T02:16:41Z")
> [@Rucksinator](#): > > If he had said that all black people were savages who gang up to attack white people…, then that would be racist. But that’s not what he said. (Unless you think that the “community” that was was referring to includes all black people, which I don’t.) So you figure when he said “the black community” he wasn’t talking about the black community? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/19 "2014-07-05T02:19:33Z")
Assuming this situation happened as reported, it looks to me like a white racist got beat up by a black racist. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381/20 "2014-07-05T02:24:17Z")
That was extremely and blatantly racist, what the hell are you reading? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-cumia-of-opie-and-anthony-fired-for-racist-tweets/692381.md?page=2)