Boston radio host Tony Massarotti breaks silence after using ‘racial slur’ live on air

Boston radio host Tony Massarotti apologized for using a racial slur on air this week.

Massarotti said the word “zipperhead,” which has often been used against people of Asian descent, although he said Thursday that he was trying to make a joke about a Gen Z colleague’s age and was unaware of its racial significance. the word. .

‘…During (Wednesday’s) show, as we were talking about baseball’s Gold Glove awards, the voting and the data involved, I made reference to Tyler Milliken and people his age and their reliance on some of the metrics and how I didn’t believe in them,” he said on ‘Felger & Mazz’.

And in doing so I used a derogatory term that I didn’t know. I didn’t know that this term had a derogatory connotation. But I used it in reference to Milliken and his Gen Z brethren, for lack of a better term.’

He continued: “I have since realized that, historically, there is a derogatory context for that term. Which, I assure you, I didn’t know.

The word was used by American military personnel to discriminate against Asians during the Korean and Vietnam wars.

Massarotti, 56, got into trouble last year for similar racially insensitive comments that led to his suspension from the airwaves.

In February 2023, Massarotti was addressing co-host Michael Felger, who was working remotely, when the former referred to two African-American men sitting in the background.

“I want to know now who the two guys behind you are,” Massarotti asked Felger, who was co-hosting the show from a hotel in New Orleans, according to WCVB.

‘They can’t hear us, can they? Okay, so I’d be careful if I were you. Because the last time you were with a couple of guys like that, they stole your car.

He later clarified that he was just trying to “make fun” of Felger, who reportedly had his car stolen in New Orleans in the fall.