DC radio host Don Geronimo fired after derogatory comments towards female reporter

Don Geronimo, a host for WBIG (Big 100), an iHeartMedia affiliate and a radio partner of the Washington Commanders, has been fired for comments he made on his show about a female reporter.

Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post reported the firing of Geronimo, whose actual name is Michael Sorce.

“WBIG-FM, the Washington Commanders’ radio partner, fired host Don Geronimo for disparaging remarks he made about a female TV anchor during a Thursday morning broadcast from the team’s training camp in Ashburn,” the report said.

The comments in question were directed at Sharla McBride, a reporter for WUSA-TV.

“Hey look, Barbie’s here. Hi, Barbie girl,” Geronimo said, per WUSA’s Adam Longo. “I’m guessing she’s a cheerleader.”

Longo also detailed an exchange that Geronimo and cohost Crash Young had later in their show as McBride was conducting interviews.

“Oh hey. There’s that chick that you thought .. said tight,” said Geronimo.

“Yah. I screamed tight when she was ..” Young replied.

“I think. I think she’s a sportscaster at Channel 9. Or Channel 7,” said Geronimo.

“Yeah, She’s familiar,” replied Crash.

“I thought she was a cheerleader,” said Geronimo.

The Commanders’ initial response was to bar the station from training camp on Friday.

“iHeart and the individual were not permitted to broadcast from Training Camp today, and we will continue to work collaboratively with iHeart to address the issue and trust that iHeart will take appropriate action as it works through an internal investigation,” a team spokesman said, per Longo.

Aaron Hyland, iHeartMedia’s D.C. regional president, detailed the firing to The Washington Post.

“After an internal review, Don Geronimo is no longer an employee of WBIG,” Hyland said, per Jhabvala. “We take matters of this nature very seriously and this behavior does not align with our core values.”

iHeart’s response seemed sufficient to the Commanders, as Jhabvala cited a team spokesman saying, “We were confident that iHeart would address this swiftly and are pleased that they did.”

During Daniel Snyder’s ownership tenure, multiple sexual harassment issues came to light. That included one that resulted in a $60 million fine for Snyder as his sale to the Josh-Harris-led group became official.

[WUSA9.com, WashingtonPost.com]