After the Buffalo Bills hired the first female coach in NFL history three weeks ago, Cleveland sports radio host Kevin Kiley was crucified for stating “[Kathryn Smith] couldn’t possibly be qualified to the same level that a man could be qualified to do that.”
Thursday night, Kiley appeared on CBS Cleveland to announce his resignation at month’s end, but not before criticizing the station for censoring unpopular opinions.
In early November, I resigned at WKRK, effective the end of this month. I sent them a letter in early November and really, for reasons that were unrelated to this. My principles, their principles of doing business, they don’t match. And it was tough for me to work there. So I have resigned and I’ll be ending, I think at the end of the month. Maybe at the end of this show. We’ll find out. We’ll find out about this.
But there’s a bigger issue here, let me get to this issue here. Look, throughout the history of radio and broadcasting, from Orson Welles to Howard Stern, people have stood up for the right to say and the right to argue and the right to make points. And people have lost their jobs, and opportunities, and they’ve been chastised for that. And they sacrificed. Throughout the history of broadcasting, you have these people. And I have no right to accept censorship. I’ve never been censored. In 35 years, I’ve never been censored, and I shouldn’t have been censored for this. And I have no right to accept censorship based on what broadcasting is. And nor should you accept censorship, ever. You should make sure that the people on the radio are telling you the truth as they see it. Now, you’re gonna argue with them and you can disagree with them, but don’t let the program director there, don’t let the general manager, don’t let some clown in New York tell them what to say, and then you think it’s their opinion, or what not to say. That’s what happened here, and I’m not accepting it. So, demand the truth. We’ll see how they feel about the truth, trust me, if I’m on the air tomorrow morning.
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