'Hi, Barbie girl ... I'm guessing she's a cheerleader': Male radio host's 'sexually disparaging remarks' about veteran female sports reporter cost him dearly

A male radio host from the Washington, D.C., market is out of a job after remarks he made about a female veteran sports reporter last week at training camp for the Washington Commanders.

WBIG-FM "BIG 100" radio presenter Don Geronimo was fired Saturday after an internal review by parent company iHeart Radio, WUSA-TV reported.

"We take matters of this nature very seriously and this behavior does not align with our core values," said Aaron Hyland, president of iHeartMedia's Washington D.C. Region, according to WUSA.

What happened?

While live on air Thursday, Geronimo shouted out to WUSA's Sharla McBride as she was walking in to cover training camp activities, "Hey look, Barbie's here. Hi, Barbie girl. I'm guessing she's a cheerleader," WUSA said.

Later, as McBride was conducting interviews, Geronimo said to producer Crash Young, "Oh hey. There's that chick that you thought ... said tight," WUSA reported.

"Yah. I screamed tight when she was ..." Young said before being interrupted, WUSA said.

"I think, I think she's a sportscaster at Channel 9. Or Channel 7," Geronimo said, according to WUSA.

"Yeah, she's familiar," Young replied, WUSA said.

"I thought she was a cheerleader," Geronimo added, WUSA reported.

With that, the Commanders on Friday morning barred Geronimo, Young, and iHeart Media from broadcasting at training camp, WUSA said.

"We have worked hard to ensure that everyone feels safe and respected in our workplace, and we took swift action when we learned that an employee of our partner iHeart made sexually disparaging remarks to and about a member of the media while she was broadcasting live from training camp yesterday," a Commanders spokesperson said in a statement to WUSA.

WUSA general manager Richard Dyer said, “Objectifying women is harmful and disrespectful. We’ve heard from the Washington Commanders that they are addressing this situation directly with iHeartRadio. Promoting respect, empathy and equal treatment for all individuals, regardless of gender, is crucial for building respect in any workplace.”

WUSA reported that McBride — who's been a journalist for 17 years — said she was hurt and offended about the sexist comments, calling them inappropriate, unprofessional, and embarrassing.

Here's McBride reporting Friday from the Commanders' training camp:

Anything else?

Yahoo Sports said the Commanders signed a three-year partnership deal with iHeartMedia in 2022 when Dan Snyder owned the team, adding that Snyder on July 20 sold the Commanders for a reported $6.05 billion after years of league and federal investigations into sexual misconduct, workplace harassment, and allegations of underreporting NFL revenues. Yahoo Sports added that the league fined Snyder $60 million as the sale was approved.

Radio personality Don Geronimo fired for making disparaging remarks on air about a sports reporteryoutu.be

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