CBSC Rules CFNY's Dean Blundell Show Violated Code With 'Wrestling Is Gay' Segment

Blundell

The CANADIAN BROADCAST STANDARDS COUNCIL has ruled that CORUS Alternative CFNY (102.1 THE EDGE)/TORONTO's  DEAN BLUNDELL Show violated the CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF BROADCASTERS' Code of Ethics and Equitable Portrayal Code by discussing the death of a 17-year-old boy who accidentally got stuck upside down inside a rolled-up gym mat at his high school.

The agency says that it got two complaints about the JANUARY 17th broadcast, in which BLUNDELL and former co-host TODD SHAPIRO talked about how wrestling is a "gay" sport because "you just jump on him and smother him with your privates" and speculated that the dead boy was ashamed of things he had done at wrestling practice, with BLUNDELL suggesting that the boy had "finger-hooked a couple dudes ...yeah, not only is wrestling gay, it can kill you.”  SHAPIRO responded that "You can't even punch him in the face!"  BLUNDELL concluded, "Kids, if you’re on the wrestling team:  quit... It’s gay."

While the CBSC's ONTARIO Regional Panel concluded that the use of the word "gay" was not a problem and the comments did not promote violence against homosexuals, the comments were nevertheless "an unduly discriminatory, stereotypical, degrading and negative presentation of homosexuals" violating the Code, and trivialized the tragedy of the boy's death.  The CBSC, noting the station's two previous violations of the Code, is asking CFNY, in order to remain a member of the CBSC, to "provide a concrete indication of the measures which it intends to put in place to avoid further similar violations of the codes."

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