WAIO/Rochester NY's Ray & Beck Fired for Racist Comments

RADIO ONLINE | Thursday, June 4, 2020 | 10:37pm CT

Barry Beck and Kimberly Ray

WAIO-FM (Radio 95.1)/Rochester, NY, ousts afternoon personalities Kimberly Ray and Barry Beck after the duo made insensitive racial remarks on Tuesday about an attack by on a couple during a Black Lives Matter protest in Rochester, reports the New York Post. The duo came under fire after they discussed the couple who were attacked on video by a group of eight men, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reported.

"Okay, let me ask you a question. Were they acting n-word-ish?" said Ray, according to the report. Even though she never used the actual slur, Ray asked again whether the attackers were behaving "n-word-ly."

"If you look like a thug and if you act like a thug, and you've got three on one beating up a white woman with a 2-by-4, by God, you're a thug," Beck reportedly said.

The pair then went on to discuss whether they can use the term "N-word" and backlash quickly rose on Twitter.

iHeartMedia Rochester President Robert J. Morgan said, "We made the decision to terminate Kimberly and Beck yesterday as soon as we learned of their comments and informed them early this morning. We will not tolerate this kind of behavior, which is antithetical to our core values and beliefs and to our commitment to our community and everyone in it."