After a month-long indefinite suspension following his offensive remarks about illegal Mexican migrants, WTKK radio host Jay Severin will return to the airwaves Tuesday, the Hub station announced today.
In a statement, station management said they have had conversations with Severin over the past several weeks about his “hurtful, inappropriate remarks” and that he understands the station will not accept “this type of commentary on our airwaves in the future.”
The station said that based on that understanding, they have agreed to conclude Severin’s suspension and he will return to his afternoon-drive show Tuesday.
“We want to emphasize that WTKK still strongly supports an open and spirited debate about the many issues our community and our country currently face,” the statement said. “There will no doubt be times when people disagree with what Jay says. Our goal is to maintain a level of discourse that is compelling and thought-provoking, yet civil and respectful. While we will not always succeed in walking this line, we will continually strive to do so.”
Severin was suspended indefinitely without pay April 30 after calling illegal Mexican migrants “leeches,” exporters of “women with mustaches and VD,” and the world’s “lowest of primitives” when talking about the swine flu on his show.
Station management also sent a email to listeners that quoted Severin saying, “Thank you for my job.”
“Jay regrets the remarks for which he was suspended and understands that his comments were indeed wrong and hurtful to the Mexican and Mexican-American communities,” said the email to listeners.