Dori Monson has been a pre and post-game radio host for the Seattle Seahawks since 2002, and has been a fixture on Seattle’s airwaves since the mid-1990s. And while Monson’s daily radio show on Seattle’s KIRO-FM is quite political in nature, it hasn’t landed him in much hot water with the Seahawks.
Then he fired off a transphobic tweet on Wednesday night during the Washington gubernatorial debate between incumbent Jay Inslee and challenger Loren Culp, which has been deleted and is screencapped below.
The Seattle Times reports that Monson has been suspended from Seahawks pre and post-game coverage, while The Athletic’s Michael-Shawn Dugar reports that he’s also been suspended by Bonneville, the owner of KIRO-FM. The station told Dugar that they don’t comment on personnel matters.
Monson (or his show’s account) hasn’t tweeted since Thursday, and he was not on the air Friday.
Per The Athletic, Monson (naturally) blamed “cancel culture” for coming after him and claimed his tweet was targeted at Inslee, rather than the trans community.
In response to the claims of transphobia directed at him, Monson decried “cancel culture” for coming after him and maintained his words were taken out of context. He said the libertarian in him doesn’t allow him to care whether adults would like to change their gender. “I couldn’t care less,” he said this week.
“They’re saying you’re laughing at transgender people,” Monson said. “No, I’m laughing at Jay Inslee saying we are a science-based state. But I hurt a couple people I care about deeply. I personally called them this morning, said I’m sorry.” Monson later added: “If you were hurt by that, I’m sorry. Not where I was going, not my intent.”
Here’s a thought: don’t be an asshole. Really, it’s that simple. Just don’t be an asshole. Don’t tweet shit you know is going to upset some people just for the lulz. And if you do that, don’t be surprised if there are consequences. I don’t know how the Seahawks could *not* do something regarding Monson after that tweet and still be taken seriously by the LGBTQ+ community.
[Seattle Times, The Athletic, image via Kevin Zelko on Twitter]
