Charles Karel Bouley - Controversies

Controversies

• In November 2008,when Bouley was hosting his weekend 7–10 p.m. call-in program on KGO the sound engineer failed to mute Bouley's microphone during the national news break. When a reference to Joe the Plumber came up during the news, Bouley was clearly heard on-air to yell: "Fuck goddamn Joe the goddamn mother-fucking Plumber! I want mother-fucking Joe the Plumber dead!" Following the news break, Bouley profusely apologized to the audience for the incident, explaining he was told his microphone was "dead," and that his words were never intended to be aired. He also explained that to him, "Joe the Plumber" was a fictional character and he meant no harm to anyone. Bouley's comments earned him the title "pinhead," for the second time, from Fox's Bill O'Reilly on The O'Reilly Factor, Monday, November 3, 2008. KGO issued a news release on the afternoon of November 11, 2008 stating that he had been terminated. Bouley stated in November 2008, that he does take responsibility for the incident, and later said, "I am sorry anyone thought I wanted a real person dead, I did not. I am sorry that anyone has to go through any trouble over what I said while making tea in my home studio kitchen with my always live mike. Karel also reiterated that he was told by the inexperienced KGO engineer, who had unprofessionally left the studio to use the restroom, that his microphone was off. The engineer had been told, he says, to make sure the microphone was dead during breaks, because Karel talks to his video chat room during the break, often using language inappropriate for the airwaves.

• In March 2007, Karel wrote the following for the online The Huffington Post, regarding reports that White House spokesman Tony Snow had developed colon cancer: "I hear about Tony Snow and say to myself, well, stand up every day, lie to the American people at the behest of your dictator-esque boss and well, how could a cancer not grow in you? ... I know, it's horrible. I admit it. I don't wish anyone harm, even Tony Snow. And I do hope he recovers ... and surrounds himself with friends and family for his journey. But in the back of my head there's Justin Timberlake's "What goes around, goes around, comes around, comes all the way back around, ya ..." When controversy immediately ensued, Bouley replaced the draft and the inflammatory statements were removed with a notation that it had been edited from the original version. The original post, however, got wide airplay on television and the internet, and was widely circulated in print, compelling Huffington Post editor Roy Sekoff to speak out about the issue on The O'Reilly Factor shortly after the row.

• In June 2004, Karel opened his weekend KGO program with a clip of The Wizard of Oz song, "Ding-Dong the Witch is Dead!" as a "tribute" to former President Ronald Reagan, who had died earlier that day. He went on to rant about Reagan during the first two hours of his show because of what he saw as the inaction of Reagan and his administration in the face of the developing AIDS crisis, propagating the perception it was a "gay disease." The Monday following Reagan's death, Bouley was severely criticized by listeners in addition to being strongly reprimanded by KGO management. He later apologized on the air, not for what he said, but for choosing to air his comments the same day as the former president's death. He later included an open letter of apology to Nancy Reagan in his book You Can't Say That. Bouley later added:

"I was in fact disrespectful that day and there's plenty of time for that later. A generation of young gay Americans died on Reagan's watch, and it was OK because basically they deserved it for living the 'lifestyle'. Say something against the person that is partially responsible for those attitudes before he's put in the ground, and that's classless. Let the gay man inside of me out in his righteous indignation, and he gets slapped under the guise of propriety. Next time I will let the dust settle. But when it settles ...