Judge Declines Warrant to Arrest Seth Dunlap for Extortion

RADIO ONLINE | Monday, November 11, 2019

Seth Dunlap

New Orleans police asked a judge last Wednesday for a warrant to arrest former WWL sports/talk host Seth Dunlap on a count of extortion, reports the New Orleans Times-Picayune/Advocate. But Magistrate Commissioner Robert Blackburn rejected the warrant and the newspaper's sources said he didn't find the evidence that backed up a charge of extortion.

One source told the newspaper that the detective presented evidence that the openly gay radio personality used his phone to launch a homophobic insult at himself via the radio station's Twitter account before demanding nearly $2 million to settle complaints about a hostile workplace. Dunlap was fired by Entercom's WWL last week and he denies the allegations.

At the center of the controversy is a tweet that originated from WWL's Twitter account referring to the 35-year-old Dunlap as a "fag." Dunlap, who is openly gay, then wrote a lengthy post on his personal Facebook page recounting the challenges he'd faced working in sports media as a gay man. The offensive tweet quickly vanished - but not before drawing nationwide attention, with many offering support for Dunlap and condemning WWL Radio.

The station investigated and claims the tweet in question came from an IP address associated with Dunlap's phone. Station management then went to the NOPD and accused Dunlap of sending the tweet before demanding the station pay him $1.8 million to avoid a lawsuit he planned to file, alleging a hostile workplace environment. The station claimed both the tweet and the demand came at a time when Dunlap was facing significant financial problems.