WEEI Pulls Friday Shows For Sensitivity Training

BOSTON, MA — Beleaguered local radio station WEEI is pulling its programming Friday so its staff can attend mandatory sensitivity training. The station announced Wednesday that all live programming between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. will be canceled to allow staff to take part in the training. The announcement comes in the wake of several companies suspending advertising following a number of controversial incidents on air.

The tipping point came last Friday when, during a segment on "Ordway, Merloni & Fauria," former Patriots tight end and cohost Christian Fauria used a stereotypical accent to imitate Tom Brady's agent Don Yee. Yee, born in America, has no such accent. Fauria was suspended for five days.

That controversy follows Alex Reimer's January suspension for calling Brady's 5-year-old daughter an "annoying little pissant."

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"Nothing is more important to WEEI thank the close-knit and diverse Boston community we call home, and we are committed to actively contributing to its betterment. WEEI is in the process of closely reevaluating our policies and procedures in an effort to ensure that our programming is never intolerant or harmful to our listeners or our city," a statement from the radio station read.

Controversy isn't new to WEEI. Morning cohost Kirk Minihane was suspended for an on-air argument with Fauria and comments made about FOX Sports reporter Erin Andrews

John Dennis and Gerry Callahan were suspended for two weeks in 2003 when they called an escaped Franklin Park Zoo gorilla at a bus stop a METCO gorilla heading out to Lexington.

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