Dan McNeil, a longtime Chicago-area sports radio host known for making divisive and often controversial comments, was fired by 670 The Score on Tuesday for sending a “degrading” tweet about an ESPN sideline reporter the night before.
Entercom Chicago, which owns the station, announced the firing in an email to staff less than 24 hours after McNeil sent a tweet in which he posted a photo of ESPN reporter Maria Taylor during “Monday Night Football” with the caption: “NFL sideline reporter or a host for the AVN annual awards presentation?”
The Adult Video News awards are an annual ceremony to celebrate pornographic films.
In a memo to Entercom employees announcing McNeil’s firing, Rachel Williamson, senior vice president and market manager of Entercom Chicago, said: “For each one of us our words have power. For our brands and on-air personalities that is amplified and brings increased responsibility in how we chose to use our voices.”
“Last night’s tweet, and its degrading and humiliating tone to a fellow female broadcaster, was unacceptable,” she added. “We have the best teams in Chicago, and we must hold ourselves to high expectations to continue to be leaders in our organization, our industry and our community. We apologize to all who were offended by Dan’s words, especially Maria.”
McNeil, who co-hosted a weekday afternoon show with Danny Parkins, deleted the tweet less than an hour later, but criticism had already been sparked across social media. Many of Taylor’s colleagues publicly came out in support of her, while the reporter herself even shot back at McNeil on Twitter.
According her staff bio, Taylor was hired by ESPN in 2014 and covers college sports, the NBA and NFL.
McNeil was in his third stint at 670 The Score after first joining the station in 1992.
Well Danny Dearest if you would like to continue making sexist comments about me...please bring your misogyny with you to the NBA Countdown double header I’ll be hosting tomorrow night. Hey ladies remember you can wear whatever you feel confident in! @670TheScore @DannyMac670 https://t.co/bN0H582isU
— Maria Taylor (@MariaTaylor) September 15, 2020
