WASHINGTON — Thousands of listeners of the Capitol City’s NPR affiliate WAMU were shocked to hear beloved public radio talk show host Diane Rehm refer to members of her audience who were choosing not to contribute to the station’s annual fall pledge drive as “a bunch of cheap, freeloading fucks.”
The public radio icon, who is set to retire after the 2016 election, has been a staple of public radio since taking over WAMU’s morning talk show Kaleidoscope in 1979. Perhaps it was her distinguished career in public broadcasting drawing to a close that prompted the host to make the out of character and wildly off-script comments.
“Listen up, you cheap, freeloading fucks,” Rehm began. “I don’t know if you think this shit comes free, but it doesn’t. It just fucking doesn’t.”
NPR producers could only look on in horror as Rehm continued with her unorthodox and foul-mouthed pitch for listeners to show their support. Longtime Diane Rehm Show listeners who view Rehm as a bastion of rationality and calm in an increasingly unhinged media landscape were taken aback by the broadcaster’s diatribe against those who choose not to contribute to their local NPR stations.
“I’ve been in this game for a long time, and the only thing that remains the same is you little shits demanding something for nothing,” Rehm spewed. “Fuck your fucking tote bags.”
Listener Megan Green said she was beyond shocked to hear such language from the respected talk show host.
“I mean, I tune into The Diane Rehm Show to hear an erudite conversation about whatever book Margaret Atwood has churned out this year, not to hear foul language,” Green said. “I guess I’ve always liked how she’s held her guests’ feet the to the fire, but this is a bit too far. I mean, if I wanted to be called a cheap, freeloading fuck, I’d listen to Terry Gross.”
Spokespeople for both NPR and the Washington affiliate station have declined to comment on the incident, though an unidentified source from WAMU confirmed the fall pledge drive has broken numerous records.
Adam Sokol wants to hear Robert Siegel fucking lose it on air.
Image by The Diane Rehm Show..
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