Fans of a shock jock fired last week for a racially charged and sexist rant on Twitter will petition and protest to get him back on the air.
Anthony Cumia, who was a co-host on Opie & Anthony with Gregg “Opie” Hughes, was canned by his broadcaster SiriusXM on Thursday after he complained about a woman who allegedly struck him while he took photographs in Times Square.
Sirius on Friday called his online tirade “hate-filled” and “abhorrent.”
Dedicated fans of the show sprang into action with a petition on Change.org calling on Sirius to reinstate Cumia or face a boycott.
The petition had about 8,000 signatures as of Sunday..
Meanwhile, a fan, George Stewart, a 20-year-old college student from Connecticut and aspiring comedian, is organizing a protest outside of Sirius’ midtown headquarters Monday at 8 a.m.
Stewart said in an email that while he understands Sirius’ right to let Cumia go over his remarks, “firing Anthony is gonna cost them a lot of subscribers, and a lot of money, and that’s what we want them to know.”