A Boston sports radio station is facing calls to fire one of its presenters after he uttered a slur listeners deemed to be racially insensitive on Wednesday.
While complaining about the Gen-Z population on his show ‘Felger & Mazz’, sports radio host Tony ‘Mazz’ Massarotti created controversy live on the airwaves.
In a clip posted to social media, Massarotti and his co-host Dave Felger were talking about the MLB Postseason – when he started complaining about Gen-Z, saying, ‘I’ve determined, incidentally, that the “Z” stands for “Zipperhead”.’
Zipperhead is a racial slur typically used by American military personnel to discriminate against Asian people during the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
It’s not clear what the context leading up to the comment was. DailyMail.com has contacted 98.5 The Sports Hub for comment.
Boston sports radio host Tony Massarotti used a racial slur while on the air on Wednesday
In the immediate aftermath of the clip being posted, people began calling for Massarotti to be fired.
‘How does he still have a job?’ wrote one user on X, formerly Twitter. Another said, ‘Maz with his annual on-air racial incident. How these 2 continue to be employed on TV and radio is beyond me.’
Barstool Sports host Jeff D. Lowe tweeted, ‘GASPED at this one,’ and then added, ‘I fully expected some sort of annoying/lame dig at the Red Sox given the thumbnail. That was an M. Night [Shyamalan] esque twist.’
Others were unaware of the phrase – or its background – and thought that Massarotti may not have known what he was saying.
‘In all fairness to Tony, I actually didn’t know Zipperh**d was a racial slur,’ wrote one user.
Another said, ‘Had never heard that term before today. Apparently it was used prominently in “Gran Torino” which I saw when it came out but had no recollection of. It took me three seconds to look it up and find out that it is indeed a slur. Wouldn’t surprise me if Mazz didn’t know either given the context but also given past discretions, no one upset about it is going to be giving him the benefit of the doubt.’
In February 2023, Massarotti (L) made remarks about Black people deemed racially insensitive
Massarotti, 56, got into hot water last year for similar racially insensitive remarks which led to his suspension from the airwaves.
Back in February of 2023, Massarotti was addressing cohost Michael Felger, who was working remotely, when the former referred to two African-American men sitting in the background.
‘I wanna know now who the two guys behind you are,’ Massarotti asked Felger, who was co-hosting the show from a hotel in New Orleans, according to WCVB.
‘They can’t hear us, right? OK, so I would be careful if I were you. Because the last time you were around a couple of guys like that, they stole your car.’
He later clarified that he was only trying to ‘poke fun’ at Felger, who reportedly had his car stolen in New Orleans in the fall.
The local media personality also admitted to taking his joke too far and that it ‘hurts the case’ of those who advocate for racial and social equality.
‘Late in the show on Friday, I made some comments that angered and upset some people, and rightfully so,’ Massarotti said at the time. ‘I wish I could take them back. I can’t.
‘So I owe everyone an apology. It’s not who I am. It’s not who we are. I can tell you that until I’m blue in the face – those of you who know me will believe it.’