11/21/2003
OTTAWA - The British Columbia Regional Panel of the CBSC ruled that the 2026 Valentine's Day broadcast of The Tom Leykis Show on Vancouver's MOJO Radio was not sexy, but more along the lines of sexist. CHMJ-AM agreed, pulling the U.S. import show off the air.
During the episode in question, which was broadcast live from a local tavern, the host took calls from male and female listeners to discuss a combination of sex and relationship advice in celebration of Valentine's Day. Leykis continually used, and allowed the use by callers, of comments such as "bitch", "money whore", "pathetic chicks", "another illiterate ignorant vagina" and other lovely female pet names.
While Leykis couldn't manage to hold his tongue, he did succeed in putting breasts on display as best as he could in a radio context� a difficult task.
While Leykis engaged in unjustifiably sexually explicit conversations describing, among other things, oral sex acts, a complainant was on-line, clicking away about her disgust of Leykis, expressing her major MOJO disappointment, and describing the "misogynist's" show as a promotion for "the objectification and hatred of women," says the CBSC decision today.
The station's program director responded by saying, "we appreciate that a number of the program host's comments may seem derogatory when reviewed in small sound bites. However, we believe that a reasonably frequent listener to the program will come to understand this as the host's 'shtick' and not a representation of his beliefs."
The CBSC, in fact, ruled that the host's "shtick" is sick. According to the CBSC, "the host's comments in this program are problematic," violating clauses in the CAB Code of Ethics and Sex-Role Portrayal Code "by using offensive words and expressions, on the one hand, and applauding the recounting stories demonstrating disrespect for women and sweeping generalized disregard for their equity, on the other."
In the panel's view, Leykis' broadcast has, in it's own way, sunk to the Howard Stern low. "It continues, in its style, the boys-in-locker-room banter and the panel finds that the extent of its disrespect for women and sweeping generalized disregard for their equality are astonishing."
The CBSC offered CHMJ-AM absolution after a penance of airing the decision once during peak listening hours, within three days of it being made, and once again within seven days during the time in which Leykis' show would have normally aired.
The CBSC commend CHMJ-AM's efforts to right the wrong by yanking Leykis' show after that Valentine's Day performance.
For the full report, go to www.cbsc.ca.
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