Earlier this week, WWL’s Seth Dunlap was the target of a homophobic comment sent from the radio station’s verified Twitter account. On Thursday, Dunlap announced a leave of absence from his weeknight show on the Entercom owned New Orleans radio station.
Dunlap was on-air for his show Tuesday night, just hours after the offensive Tweet was sent, but once it became a national news story, the radio host took Wednesday to “decompress.” Now, Dunlap has decided to take more time, announcing a leave of absence effective immediately.
“This decision was deeply personal and certainly not easy to make. I need to do what’s best for me and also what I feel is right,” Dunlap posted on Twitter.
Dunlap hosts The Last Lap on WWL in New Orleans, Monday – Friday from 8 – 11pm, in addition to the Saints pregame show on their radio network. The homophobic tweet was posted just days after the radio host shared that he’s openly gay.
“Most importantly, to all of the LGBTQ+ people out there please know that your voices are being heard,” Dunlap tweeted. “I have tried hard to not make this about me because, truthfully, it’s not. It’s about a culture of hate and bigotry that has proliferated recently in our society.”
Entercom has been supportive of Dunlap, internally expressing disgust over the incident and vowing to take all possible steps toward finding who sent the homophobic tweet.
“Thanks to the many people inside and outside the organization who have shown their support over the past couple of days. There are many people working at WWL and Entercom who are wonderful people, and have been unfairly swept up in this,” Dunlap added.
The New Orleans radio host added that he’s not going away and will speak on the incident soon, but after he takes time to decide on the best next step for his career and personal life.
Brandon Contes is a freelance writer for BSM. He can be found on Twitter @BrandonContes. To reach him by email click here.
Brandon Contes is a former reporter for BSM, now working for Awful Announcing. You can find him on Twitter @BrandonContes or reach him by email at Brandon.Contes@gmail.com.
