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Washington, D.C.— The Asian American Action Fund joins the Organization of Chinese Americans and others in demanding that CBS fire DJs Jeff Vandergrift and Dan Lay and the producer of "The Dog House with JV & Elvis." On April 5 and again on April 19, the New York City radio show owned by CBS aired a six-minute racist and sexist prank call purporting to be a phone order to a Chinese restaurant.
The caller from the radio show begins by saying "how are you Asian lady?" to a female employee who answers the phone, and later tells her, "Should I come to your restaurant so that I can see you naked . . . or maybe I can pick it up. That way, I can see your hot Asian spicy ass." The caller repeatedly uses "Chinese man" to refer to a male employee who answers the phone, tells the employee he wants to order "shrimp flied lice" but not "some old dung," and asks the employee to tell him about "your tiny egg roll in your pants." The caller also ridicules the male employee's English and says "probably can't drive for [expletive], but who cares?"
"CBS has an obligation to the public to ensure that it does not promote racism and sexism and does not perpetuate harmful racial stereotypes," said Alex Nguyen, Executive Director of the AAA-Fund. "CBS admirably fulfilled this obligation when it recently fired Don Imus for his remarks about the predominantly African American Rutgers University women's basketball team. We ask that CBS act consistently in this case, and not treat it any less seriously because the targeted race happens to be Asian American. To do so would be to apply an unacceptable double standard."
Due in part to OCA's efforts to draw attention to this case, CBS has suspended the two DJs, and some advertisers, including Anheuser-Busch, have pulled their ads from the show. CBS has not, however, made a final decision on the future of the DJs, and other advertisers continue to promote the show. The AAA-Fund believes that the Asian American and Pacific Islander community and others must speak even more loudly so that CBS and its advertisers hear our concerns. We strongly encourage our members and others to:
- Join the OCA online petition calling for CBS to terminate the employment of the DJs and the show's producer
- Write a letter to the show's radio station, which is WFNY, 92.3 Free FM, and CBS (see OCA's website for a sample letter and information on how to contact the radio station and CBS)
- encourage advertisers to pull their ads from the show (see the show's website for some of its advertisers)
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