CNN spokesman Bridget Leininger confirmed to TPM that Rick Sanchez has been fired from CNN. "Rick Sanchez is no longer with the company. We thank Rick for his years of service and we wish him well."
Sanchez's departure comes after he said yesterday that "The Daily Show" host "Jon Stewart is a bigot" against "anybody who doesn't agree with his point of view, which is very much a white liberal establishment point of view."
"They minimize you, and treat you like you don't matter," Sanchez said of Stewart's show, also adding: "I am a complex human being. I am not some moron."
I hate to call people names, but I have to disagree with that last statement. Dude is DEFINITELY a moron!
I could not help but think that Sarah Palin only WISHES she had Jon Stewart's clout.
Yeah her supporters can fill a person's e-mail box with misspelled insults all day long, but Stewart does not even have to say anything and the guy that insulted him gets fired.
Now see THAT kind of clout is why I have a special announcement on Monday.
Justice served. I could never stand that pretentious son-of-a-bitch anyways.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your new career in national public radio, moron!
Sanchez also offended his superiors (the ones that fired him) by saying they were "just like" Stewart.
ReplyDeleteGood riddance on Sanchez. He is such a whiner and his show was not that good. I guess he'll show up on Faux News in a few months. He'll fit right in over there.
ReplyDeleteWhy do we have to wait until Monday for the big announcement? Can't wait to hear it!
Funny.
ReplyDeleteHow did we get here? "News" organizations need to self-correct their courses. They should investigate how far they've strayed from reporting the news and then get back on track. Need some degree of integrity.
Yeah....wishful thinking.
I also wish I could be at the DC Mall on October 30 for the big partay. Maybe they'll televise the event live.
Zoom!
ReplyDeleteSo fast it makes your head swim.
Good riddance to Rick Sanchez.What really irritated me was his comments about Jews.
ReplyDeleteAlso how would anybody know or care what his upbringing is.He is a newscaster.
I think Rick could use a little therapy.
Well, Sanchez did say the J word in a way that could be construed as derogatory, and his sense of what constitutes "bigot" seems skewed as he can include anyone who criticizes or makes fun of him.
ReplyDeleteI am glad he's moving on, but I wish he would have been reprimanded first and asked to do an on-air apology. If he wouldn't apologize, then he should be fired. Perhaps he did refuse to apologize, who knows?
However, I think it would have been equally effective to suspend him until he did agree to apologize on-air.
It could be, though, that's because this is not the first offense, he was already on probation. We probably won't know the full story until later, if at all.
I agree what he said was wrong, and I am not a fan of his, but an apology needs to be made nonetheless. Saying that Jews run CNN in way that was meant to be disrespectful (considering that Jon Stewart is Jewish) probably figured in the equation as much as calling Jon bigoted because it's as if he were implying that Jon can be bigoted because of the Jewish management.
I wonder if he will go over to Fox the way Bill the clean-cut-morning-but-overly-conservative host did?
he didn't get fired for what he said about Jon Stewart, he got fired for saying the networks are run by Jews.
ReplyDeleteGood riddance to Rick Sanchez.What really irritated me was his comments about Jews.
ReplyDeleteAlso how would anybody know or care what his upbringing is.He is a newscaster.
I think Rick could use a little therapy.
thats not why he was fired....
ReplyDeletebtw when was the last time anyone wa s fired for hate-talking Muslims?
nothing is so cut and dry.............
I actually watched Sanchez because he did cover some important issues, like where the Mexican cartels were getting their guns, etc. I'm kind of sorry about this.
ReplyDeleteM from Md
Maybe that on-air tasering affected him more than we know.
ReplyDeleteNah, I think he just has a chip on this shoulder.
I come from a lower-middle-class blue collar myself, but I adore Stewart and Cobert. I am also a progressive in my 60's. My folks were progressives as well even though they never had an chance to graduate from high school - so Sanchez's remark about people "who work hard" not being able to understand is BS big time. My folks worked 10 hour days, often seven days a week, so they would not have been classified as overly-educated, privileged elites. They just care about others.
Being progressive doesn't require an educational or financial threshold. It just requires someone to think and care about others. Period.
Mr. Sanchez obviously suffers from a persecution complex.
ReplyDeleteJeez. Does that sound like anyone else we know? Sarah (You're infringing my 1st amendment rights) Palin perhaps? Gov. (Appalachian Trail anyone) Sanford? Candidate (I dabbled in witchcraft) O'Donnell maybe?
Nah! No whiners here!
Say Mr Sanchez. What cheese would you like with that wine? Now that you're retired and all ...
The Wasilla newspaper has two stories about Palin. First a story on receiving a restraining order and a opinion piece about the wrath of PAlin supporters.
ReplyDeletefrontiersman.com
finally, the local paper speaks out about the wrath of palin supporters. Finally!
The guy here, who lost his job, speaks to that liberal hate ... He is fanning the fire of liberal hate.
Yippee! I just knew this would come back to haunt Rick, just didn't expect it so soon!!
ReplyDeleteFor those keeping score:
ReplyDeleteCrossfire - Cancelled
Rick Sanchez - Canned
Score
JON STEWART - 2
CNN - 0
Please don't tell me Jon Stewart doesn't have clout
Fox will snap him up.
ReplyDeleteOh trust me, Rick IS a moron.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately he comes from down here in South Florida, where he was not only a complete idiot with nothing but rocks in his head where brain cells should be, but he was a loud mouth fat ass who drank, too. Nobody could stand him, and I was thrilled he went national and I didn't have to watch his face on local news anymore.
I love Jon Stewart, but Sanchez got fired for his comments about Jews, not his comments about Stewart.
ReplyDeleteSomehow I'm not surprised.....I always thought he had that Billo blowhard quality and just thought of himself as pretty cool on the air.
ReplyDeleteYeah--he's so second tier--seemed like he was on the air MORE than the other anchors and I found him tiring because of that.
Who knew Rick was Anti-semitic? Creep. He must have a job in the hopper to have been so openly bigoted. (And as someone else mentioned, then why isn't Erik the idiot gone from CNN too)? Anyway, I'm tired of these anchors who make more money than my entire block whining that people look down on them . . . Suck it up Rick. I'm sure FAUX will give him a job next to the other perpetual cry-baby, Palin, who whines that America doesn't think she's good enough. And for once she's RIGHT.
ReplyDeleteSanchez being fired follows closely on the heels of the douche CNN top guy, Jon Klein, being fired.
ReplyDeleteMaybe CNN is trying to get back to the "news you can trust" channel but they still have a long way to go.
Sanchez got fired for making bigoted statements concerning CNN and the other stations being run by Jews. Stewart is a famous Jew but he's not that powerful.
BTW Jon Stewart has been a dick toward the President lately so Rick was way off on his assessment of that issue.
He's also way off on Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow being mouth pieces for the President. They both have been on the President's backside lately. I guess they felt the sting of his words about the "professional left."
The President was spot on IMO and anyone feeling offended by his words "might be a member of the professional left" as Jeff Foxworthy might say.
He also said CNN is run by Jews. That might have had more impact than his Jon Stewart comment.
ReplyDeleteWonder when Fox will be bringing him on.
That dickwad Eric from Redstate should be fired just as quickly. It's a sad day that he got hired to vomit his drivel on the public airwaves. He's a FOX guy all the way and CNN should dump his fat ass, too. Just sayin'
ReplyDeleteAnnouncement:
ReplyDeleteAre you coming East perchance Halloween weekend???
Anonymous @3:15...
ReplyDeleteI love your last paragraph. Succinct/accurate
Anon 3:15
ReplyDeleteWas gonna say the same thing. Maybe he got tired of that clip Jon Stewart (and Colbert) always showed of him allowing himself to be tasered. It was hilarious. I guess Sanchez didn't think it was funny. Honestly, I can think of no other reason for Sanchez to dislike Stewart. I thought they were on the same page.
as happy as this announcement makes me, and it makes me very happy to see CNN doing the right thing for once ... I really don't think it was the Jon Stewart comments that were the deal-breaker.
ReplyDeleteI think it was the generalized anti-semitic comments, combined with his earlier comments about CNN (and all network) brass that broke the camel's back.
either way, it was a good decsion ... now maybe CNN will break ties with the real BIGOTS
I assume we can anticipate Rick's VICTIM card play soon.
Also, I definitely think Jon is the kind of guy who will reach out to Rick and invite him on the show.
- kellygrrrl
Didn't really see Sanchez as being Fox material but with what he spouted, I can see no other place for him now.
ReplyDeleteNow THERE'S "A list you don't want to be on"!!!
ReplyDeleteHe'll be on FOX tomorrow, where he should have been in the first place.
I'm SURE that CNN did not want his sordid history revisited either.
Someone would have come up with the resources for the family of the man that he killed, to file a Wrongful Death, civil suit against him, once it went national.
I could just SEE Gloria Allred advocating for them, in front of the cameras now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rick Sanchez Is CNN's Teflon Man!
How Sanchez got his job on CNN, his history with Stewart going back to 2003 and his drunken hit and run.
His cavalier comments are STUNNING after leaving his victim on the street, near death, while he went home to "have a beer to "calm down"
He blew .....1.5....a hour after the accident!!!
That is excessive drinking.
Oh, his father was in the car with him at the time as well.
His victim was in a coma for months, paralyzed and finally died in a nursing home from his injuries, at the age of 36
“Was it an unfortunate experience? Yes. Was it a learning experience? Absolutely. Do I wish it hadn’t happened? Of course,” he allowed. “I was wrong, because I had a couple of cocktails, because I was over the legal limit,” he went on. “It could have happened to anybody. … There were probably a lot of other people leaving the stadium that had had a couple of beers as well.”
http://www.observer.com/2007/rick-sanchez-cnn-s-teflon-man?page=1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Forgotten Man
Eight months after he got hit by Channel 7 anchorman Rick Sanchez's Volvo, Jeffrey Smuzinick is doing poorly. His family is just plain doing poor.
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/1991-08-07/news/the-forgotten-man/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JEFFREY SMUZINICK, PARALYZED AFTER BEING HIT BY ANCHORMAN'S CAR
Herald Staff
Jeffrey Smuzinick, who was left paralyzed after being struck by the car of WSVN-Channel 7 anchor Rick Sanchez, died Monday in a Pennsylvania nursing home. He was 36.
Smuzinick, a Pembroke Pines furnituremaker, was injured Dec. 10, 1990, after he ran out into traffic leaving Joe Robbie Stadium following a Dolphins football game. He was struck by 1991 Volvo driven by Sanchez.
Smuzinick suffered severe head injuries and was in a coma for many months. He underwent rehabilitation in...
Published on 1995-11-02, Page 4B, Miami Herald, The (FL)
Read more: http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=MH&p_theme=mh&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&s_dispstring=Smuzinick%20AND%20date(all)&p_field_advanced-0=&p_text_advanced-0=(Smuzinick)#ixzz118nvq7IC
Alright, so how about posting the Daily Show segment that supposedly minimized and insulted Rick Sanchez?
ReplyDeleteSanchez defense was.... that the victim was intoxicated as well, making the victim equally at fault along with Sanchez.
ReplyDeleteDespicable!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Forgotten Man
Eight months after he got hit by Channel 7 anchorman Rick Sanchez's Volvo, Jeffrey Smuzinick is doing poorly. His family is just plain doing poor.
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/1991-08-07/news/the-forgotten-man/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JEFFREY SMUZINICK, PARALYZED AFTER BEING HIT BY ANCHORMAN'S CAR
Herald Staff
Jeffrey Smuzinick, who was left paralyzed after being struck by the car of WSVN-Channel 7 anchor Rick Sanchez, died Monday in a Pennsylvania nursing home. He was 36.
Smuzinick, a Pembroke Pines furnituremaker, was injured Dec. 10, 1990, after he ran out into traffic leaving Joe Robbie Stadium following a Dolphins football game. He was struck by 1991 Volvo driven by Sanchez.
Smuzinick suffered severe head injuries and was in a coma for many months. He underwent rehabilitation in...
Published on 1995-11-02, Page 4B, Miami Herald, The (FL)
Read more: http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=MH&p_theme=mh&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&s_dispstring=Smuzinick%20AND%20date(all)&p_field_advanced-0=&p_text_advanced-0=(Smuzinick)#ixzz118nvq7IC
Monday Did you say monday. Are Pokey and Gumby finally getting married? One of those nagging questions that never seem to get resolved.
ReplyDeleteActually, he repeated an oft used slur against Jews.
ReplyDeleteIn this atmosphere, it's all so common, but it's still wrong.
Dangerous stuff. Except if you are a white christian.
We are all seeing this before our eyes.
One characteristic of conservatives, especially the ones who claim to be really religious is that they have no sense of humor.
ReplyDeleteAs hard as it is to believe, the Baggers just don't get that Stewart and Colbert are satirists. And like Sarah they just don't have the intellectual capaity to see satire.
Their humor is hate, threats of violence, racism, etc. That is what they think is funny.
And they are very thin skinned, bullies often are.
Ok, first of all, I see many comments saying that Sanchez will fit right in at Fox...Ridiculous. He has been critical of Fox News on several occasions, even going as far as suggesting that they are not a real news station.
ReplyDeleteSecond, what is this ridiculous, group-think, over-the-top stupidity of calling his comments anti-semitic? What exactly was anti-semitic in what he said? He suggested that Jews aren't comparable to other minorities because they generally have more power (vis-a-vis media, and I would add government) than other minorities, say Hispanics or African Americans. Do you, does anyone, contest this statement? Seriously?
Isn't the mere speed of his dismissal from CNN proof of his statement? Say something that is not even anti-semitic, but can vaguely be construed as anti-semitic by those with the right disposition, and is actually generally correct, and BOOM! Just like that, he's gone. Adios amigo!
Pardon my vulgarity, but get your heads out of your asses, people.
It wasn't about Jon Stewart- it was about being busted for racist beliefs. I think CNN wanted to be rid of him and he gave them the perfect opportunity.
ReplyDelete"The tragic story of Tyler Clementi, the 18 year old college student that committed suicide, is on everyone’s mind. I doubt there is a person out there that doesn’t feel for him. Well, there is one. Rich Sanchez doesn’t see the perpetrators as bullies."
ReplyDeleteHere is what Sanchez said:
“‘Bullying?’ How is this bullying? You know, this whole term, it’s a psycho-babble, media term that we’ve made up. A person is mean to another person. How is this bullying?”
http://freakoutnation.com/2010/10/01/rick-sanchez-thinks-tyler-clementi-wasnt-bullied/
this is a very complex issue.
ReplyDeletelet me begin begin saying that I think sanchez is totally wrong about stewart being a bigot. I think stewart is a very sympathetic person. maybe most of the writers and researchers at the daily show are jews, but so what? they're f-ing brilliant. that show deserves every award they have gotten, and probably more. alot of us owe them gratitude for helping to keep us sane over the past several years.
I also think sanchez has valid points about being hispanic and growing up in the us not speaking english and having people look down on him for that. does that have anything to do with jon stewart? no.
you know, this is what happens when you have several cultures under the same umbrella - people see things in the light of the way they were raised. again I don't think that he has a legitimate beef against stewart, but in regards to discrimination in america - we all know that brown people have it much harder than white people in terms of discrimination. there is just no doubt about that. it's important to consider that yes, the hispanic experience really is completely different than the jew experience in america.
does that excuse sanchez's comments? well no, but it does give thoughtful people something to consider. just because many of us didn't grow up being ridiculed and harassed because of our race doesn't mean that all of us grew up that way. many people were and are treated very differently because of their color. surely that's going to have a profound effect on someone if that is their experience.
Sanchez said that Stewart went after him everday. Really??? Man Sanchez's ego is HUGE. Stewart used Sanchez as a filler on occasion with the video or if Sanchez went WAY OVER THE TOP on something. EVERY DAY - NOT.
ReplyDeleteOctober is Hispanic Heritage month. Sanchez got a gift - A CNN permanent vacation!
And, yet FOX doesn't fire the likes of Hannity and O'Reilly for their idiotic and lying statements!
ReplyDeleteBeck is number one who they should fire in a like manner for his racest verbage!
Sanchez was not fired for what he said about Jews, or even what he said about Stewart.
ReplyDeleteHe was fired for being a loud-mouthed unthinking asshole. He was fired for putting himself in the news. He was fired for being an jerk to others, especially his colleagues and bosses.
Was he on some sort of internal probation? Perhaps. That would irk him and feed the victim complex. CNN won't open his personnel file, of course, but I suspect that there are many people on the news team who are glad to see him go.
Anonymous @3:15 PM said "Being progressive doesn't require an educational or financial threshold. It just requires someone to think and care about others. Period."
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree with you more! Neither of my parents had high school diplomas and also worked long and hard hours, money was always tight, but they used their minds and their hearts to be good people trying to raise their children to think of others and were very progressive for that time frame in southern VT. Thank God for their viewpoints, or I'd probably be another right-wing conservative!
O/T.... I'm going to DC for the rallies!!! Anyone else leaving from the southwestern KY area?
It would be good if Gryphen could maintain a list of who is going and some way that we all could connect when we get there. I will have my Brian the Moose and my Mudflatters bag with me - what can we use to identify ourselves as IMers?
GG2C
Emrysa, Rick is not "brown." Have you even seen him? Other posters have it dead on - he was busted for being a right wing snob and anti-semetic, and had to cover himself by playing the victim and hiding behind his hispanic roots. Now suddenly he's identifying with minorities?
ReplyDeleteHe was a king down here in Miami, simply because he was cuban. I watched him on local news every day. He was fat, sloppy, stupid, and had no clue what was going on. But he was entertaining somewhat as a loudmouth and had that cuban flavor sought after by tv stations here. When he was drunk, hit a guy and left the scene of the accident I thought he would be put in jail, but it was all glossed over, because he was Rick and was afforded special treatment. But at the time, I couldn't believe it. I thought, this guy is STILL on the air??
When he went national and left Miami I was shocked, but very happy, because many here were tired of watching him. He was NEVER as smart or professional as all the other newscasters, but the view was "let rick be rick" just as they said "let sarah be sarah."
It's no surprise to me that he blew his CNN gig by talking about how jews have money and own everything, because frankly he screws up everything.
And btw emrysa, I grew up in South Florida so I saw it firsthand, and Rick is old enough to have seen a lot of jewish prejudice here. There was no cuban bias at all because Miami was run by the cuban establishment. But South Florida for a long time still had that southern feel, which means jews were not at all welcome or included in white Protestant/Baptist business or social circles. People down here still thought they had horns and a tail. Just ask some Jews who lived here long enough, they'll tell you.
As far as Sanchez goes, he'll no doubt join Fox and be part of the strange dichotomy of the typical right winger, which is - be pro israel but secretly hate jews, embrace homos in your party but publicly vilify them, build the GOP through wealth and ivy league while pretending to be beer-guzzling populists, and tout the constitution while shredding it.
Free speech has consequences.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this blog. Read it every day and wanted to post now because of the last comment I read here from emrysa.
ReplyDeleteemrysa, you are spot on! People who want to progress our evoution are using their "higher self" qualities and emotional intelligence when interacting with their fellow beings. People who want to keep things the "same" and fear any change, are not gong to progress anything but their agenda.
The loss of empathy in our culture is evident as is mean spirited behavior. Jon Stewart is great at his craft AND a Progressive thinker, which is why he is so popular and successful. The Fearful people have their becks, palins etc.
Liberal thinkers feel better too!
Interesting times to be aware.
Gryphen, I keep seeing comments about a group forming in DC to meet each other. Why not set up a meetup at
ReplyDeletewww.meetup.com/Everywhere
and see about setting up an IM meetup, or if that isn't possible, piggyback on one of the existing Everywhere Meetups, such as HuffingtonPost.
Go to
www.meetup.com/huffingtonpost
and set up a DC meetup (link at left).
Most of us are Huffpo readers too, no? You might also get other people... future readers?
Palin is going to participate in an online meet on Oct 12, it's supposed to be free and her new book is available. Anyone know more about this?
ReplyDeletethanks,
Jeanabella
Sanchez was fired for his comments about Jews. He's probably right about the discrimination and racial climate at CNN.
ReplyDelete