San Diego’s Morning Radio Darlings, “Scott & BR” are No More: Scott Kaplan Fired by XX1090, What About Billy Ray Smith?

**Updated**The below story was originally published on Feb 6th at 8:33pm: since then, Scott Kaplan has something to say: Wouldn’t you if you just got fired? Think he’s being genuine? I do. (via UT-SD)

 

**ANOTHER UPDATE: SCOTT AND BR ARE COMING BACK TO XX1090?!**

 

Original blog: So, news broke a couple hours ago that Scott Kaplan had “officially left the organization” over at xx1090. We all know that means he got fired for his comments about a female reporter, Andrea Lloyd, at The Mtn network, who also happens to be a WNBA Hall of Famer, and an Olympic Gold Medalist. They’ve already been booted off the xx1090 website. Here’s a screengrab.

Scott and BR… *poof* gone. Here is what the xx1090 website has up about the “firing”.

DAVE & JEFF JOIN SAN DIEGO SPORTS LEADER – SCOTT KAPLAN DEPARTS BCA

San Diego, CA, February 6, 2012 – Dave & Jeff, an established and highly successful sports talk radio duo in San Diego, will begin hosting our new morning sports and entertainment talk radio show on XX 1090 Sports Radio, on Wednesday, Feb 8 from 6:00 am to 10:00 am according to Tex Meyer Vice President and General Manager of BCA Radio and XX1090 Sports radio. This time slot has been occupied for the last 11 years by The Scott & Billy Ray Show. Scott Kaplan has officially left the organization while Billy Ray Smith is still considering future projects. According to Meyer, “We are making this significant change in our morning programming after very careful consideration and evaluation of several important factors. Dave & Jeff have an established and highly successful tenure in this market and we look forward with great enthusiasm to their vibrant humor, sports knowledge and overall fresh approach to our supportive and highly loyal listeners.”

Why did all this happen, you ask? Not going to re-write the whole story, so here’s the back-story from UT-San Diego, then I’ll tell you what our sources over at xx1090 are saying about what really happened with Billy Ray Smith.

UT-San Diego – XX Radio host Scott Kaplan has been fired after making disparaging remarks about a female broadcaster for the Mountain West’s television network.

The station announced Kaplan “has officially left the organization” without giving a reason for his sudden departure. But a station source who was not authorized to discuss the matter said Kaplan was fired.

Kaplan’s comments drew outrage after being reported last week in UT San Diego. On his daily sports talk radio show Jan. 25, Kaplan called Mountain West studio analyst Andrea Lloyd a “beast,” an “animal,” a “monster” and a “sasquatch of a woman.”

Kaplan left to do his show at the Super Bowl in Indianapolis last week as the story was reported in UT San Diego on Jan. 31. Upon returning from the Super Bowl, he did his last show Monday morning and was fired later in the day.

As a result, Kaplan’s longtime show with former Chargers linebacker Billy Ray Smith is canceled. The station said Smith is “considering future options.” The new morning show, starting Wednesday, will feature longtime San Diego sports radio duo Dave Palet and Jeff Dotseth.

Kaplan and Smith didn’t return calls seeking comment.

An email obtained by UT San Diego indicated that the station’s general manager, Tex Meyer, had spoken with Kaplan about similar previous remarks.

The email from Meyer was in response to a listener who complained about Kaplan’s comments on Lloyd, a women’s basketball Hall of Famer.

“I want you to know that I have had similar discussions with Scott Kaplan in the past about this subject matter,” Meyer wrote to the listener. “We are sensitive at the station to any derogatory remarks that are made about anyone and don’t tolerate it.”

Meyer apologized to the listener.

Kaplan’s latest remarks were made in a conversation with a caller shortly after 6 a.m. Jan. 25. They lasted for more than six minutes.

Kaplan said, “I think that she is currently a woman. I cannot confirm for you that she has been a woman her entire life. My guess is that at some point she had some form of surgery. Have you seen this chick?”

He later said, “I’ll take Holly Rowe’s giant butt any day on ESPN, compared to this sasquatch that they use.”

Kaplan and Smith have been a morning fixture on San Diego radio for almost 11 years. Depending on the viewpoint of the listener, Kaplan could be funny, wisecracking or offensive, with Smith often laughing at his sidekick’s remarks. Their show had a locker-room banter popular with male sports fans and had frequent references to the physical characteristics of females.

Sometimes it pushed the envelope and became a liability.

Kaplan previously was sued by a woman he called a “skank” on the air when he worked for XTRA Sports 690 in 2001. The woman sued him and the station’s operator, Clear Channel Broadcasting, for slander, libel and invasion of privacy in 2002. The case was settled confidentially in 2004.

In that case, the woman had Kaplan’s car towed in October 2001 because it was improperly parked. According to the suit, Kaplan approached her and said, “Do you know who I am? You’ve ruined my day, and I have 80,000 watts over which I can broadcast your name.”

The woman’s husband was listening to Kaplan’s show the next day when Kaplan said the woman’s name and called her a skank.

“I saw what she was wearing to work,” Kaplan said, according to a transcript cited in the lawsuit. “Yeah, I saw. Okay? She was dressed like as if she was supposed to be hot. But instead, she wasn’t hot.”

An official with the network wrote in an email that he was “disgusted” by Kaplan’s remarks and called Meyer to express his concern.

The station’s press release Monday said, “We are making this significant change in our morning programming after very careful consideration and evaluation of several important factors.”

So, that’s where we’re at today, Monday…the show is cancelled. “The station said Smith is ‘considering future options.'” That’s only part of the story. “Considering future options” implies BR is still on staff. In fact, that’s exactly what other San Diego media outlets are reporting.

That’s wrong. From what our sources at xx1090 are saying, Billy Ray Smith is NOT “considering future options”, rather he resigned on the spot as soon as he was told that Scott Kaplan was fired. That’s right, according to our source, BR is gone too. For a guy as loyal as BR, this shouldn’t surprise anymore. (**updated: as is usually the case with “sources”, we have another San Diego radio insider coming forward with intimate knowledge of the situation saying that BR is still “deciding what he wants to do”. I can say for a fact that an employee inside of xx1090 confirmed that BR resigned on the spot, but I certainly wouldn’t put it past BR to slow down, take a deep breath, and reconsider once his emotions subsided. We shall see how it plays out.**) The story also doesn’t mention that, although Dave and Jeff will be taking over the morning show, for now, they are also keeping on staff Scott and BR’s two sidekicks, John Pratt and Carlos Montoya. Scott and BR show loyal listeners, which I am not, know them as Pratty and Los. Click through to see a photo Scott and BR tweeted of them sleeping on the plane heading home from Indy for radio row at the Super Bowl.

Scott and BR were loved by many in San Diego… honestly, I never listened to them because my schedule doesn’t permit me to. Years ago, when I could listen… I thought they were pretty funny. There are others in San Diego… that HATED the show, and desperately wanted it off the air, despite it’s 11 year run. Their futures? Scott will be just fine, as he’s a pretty connected dude.

You don’t get pic with Zac Efron if you’re not connected… or Jim Brown, or Vernon Davis, or Drew Brees, or George Lopez, or Jimmy Graham, etc.  As for BR, he’ll join Scott when their show ultimately gets picked up by someone else…. which I think it will, in some fashion, possibly television. Oh, and if you’re wondering about Andrea Lloyd, the woman who Scott opened up his yapper about that ultimately led to his firing…well, here a couple of WNBA basketball cards I found of her when she played for the Lynx.

Scott Kaplan called her a “beast,” an “animal,” a “monster” and a “sasquatch of a woman”…and it got him fired. No comment here.

Okay, fine… one comment: keep a sock in it next time, Kaplan. You’d still have a job if you did.

-bp

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