'He's not just a comedian. ...He can make and break careers,' Sanchez said about Jon Stewart in the controversial radio interview that broke his career in the end.
- Oct 2, 2010
AceShowbiz - Little did CNN anchor Rick Sanchez know that as soon as he blurted out the word "biggot" to follow "Jon Stewart", he would be out of job. Sanchez, a Cuba native, has been fired by CNN on Friday, October 1 afternoon following his comment on Jon Stewart in a radio interview with Pete Dominick on XM Sirius radio program.
"Rick Sanchez is no longer with the company," according to a statement from CNN. "We thank Rick for his years of service and we wish him well." Sanchez's 3 to 5 P.M. daily spot will be filled by "CNN Newsroom" for the "foreseeable future," CNN said. According to AP, Sanchez is not immediately available for comments for his contact number and e-mails were provided by CNN.
Sanchez conducted a radio interview on Thursday where he called "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" host a bigot and said, "Look at his show, I mean, what does he surround himself with?" He noted that Stewart is a Jewish and therefore is a minor. "I'm telling you that everybody who runs CNN is a lot like Stewart, and a lot of people who run all the other networks are a lot like Stewart, and to imply that somehow they, the people in this country who are Jewish, are an oppressed minority? Yeah," Sanchez said.
For a fact, Sanchez has often been used as Stewart's jokes at the "Moment of Zen" segment of his show. Stewart once ridiculed Sanchez's mispronunciation of "annals" in a report about Vice President Joe Biden. Sanchez told Dominick, "That's what happens when you watch yourself on his show every day, and all they ever do is call you stupid."
Sanchez continued slamming Stewart by mentioning that a CNN executive whom he would not name once said Stewart is not an anchor but a reporter instead. He did say, however, toward the end of the interview that the word "bigot" may be too strong to describe Stewart and he would rather refer him as "prejudicial" instead.
