Firing seemed like ‘overkill.’ Lee Cruse criticizes LEX 18 dismissal over on-air comment
Speaking publicly for the first time since his dismissal from LEX 18 last month, Lee Cruse said on a podcast his firing sets a precedent that terrifies every employee the station has.
Cruse was terminated May 22 for comments about the royal baby his station deemed “inappropriate.” On May 9 during his “Live with Lee and Hayley” show, Cruse was reading a script about a BBC radio broadcaster who was fired for using a chimpanzee to represent Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s newborn baby. Cruse laughed and said, “this is my new favorite disc jockey.”
His comment and reaction to the story — called racist by some people in the community — led to his termination.
Speaking on Kentucky Sport Radio’s ‘The Funkhouser Situation,’ a pop-culture podcast released Tuesday on which Cruse regularly appears, Cruse reaffirmed his previous apologies.
He didn’t agree with how LEX 18 reacted.
“If I make an egregious mistake like that, you should probably suspend me. Firing? I don’t know,” he told the podcast’s host, Chris Tomlin. “You look at the body of work and you go, ‘We’re going to blow him out for a mistake. The guy’s been with us for 21 years. He’s never said or done anything like this ever. We know that’s not who he is. We take him at his word.’ Seems like overkill to me to fire a person because then it sets a precedent that terrifies every employee you’ve got.”
Prior to his termination, Cruse was suspended for five days despite apologizing on air. Some people said on social media that they were boycotting LEX 18. Others criticized the firing.
More than 22,400 people signed a Change.org petition calling for LEX 18 to rehire Cruse.
The station’s new owner, E.W. Scripps Company, said in a prepared statement that it regrets some people were upset by Cruse’s initial comment and by the firing of Cruse.
“However, the personnel decision is consistent with Scripps’ journalistic integrity and values,” the statement said. “Our station, our journalists and all of our on-air and newsroom employees have a high level of responsibility for everyone in our communities. We must demonstrate respect for all people and ensure no one feels excluded because of why they are.”
Scripps finalized its acquisition of LEX 18 on May 1.
On the podcast, Cruse said the most supportive people had been people of color. He said they have written to him, hugged him and caught him at his car telling him, “You’re good. We know you.”
“In my opinion, it’s that they have dealt with real racism in their life and they recognize their antenna is much more in tune with it than you and I would be, and they know I’m not (racist),” Cruse told Tomlin.
Cruse’s old show with co-host Hayley Harmon has been rebranded as ‘Live with Hayley.’
When Cruse was terminated, Harmon said she was “truly shocked” at the decision and stood by her former co-host.
Cruse has not tweeted or posted on his Facebook page since his dismissal from the station, but he has liked many tweets of people showing support for him.
He said he was unsure what is next for him. Cruse hopes to “let go” of the mistake he made last month.
“You have to let that go if you’re ever going to attain any kind of happiness,” he said. “I could never get through life if I keep replaying that in my head.”
This story was originally published June 5, 2019 at 10:09 AM with the headline "Firing seemed like ‘overkill.’ Lee Cruse criticizes LEX 18 dismissal over on-air comment."