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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Shock jock fired for ‘hate-filled’ tweets

From Wire Reports

Anthony Cumia of the “Opie & Anthony” radio show has been fired by SiriusXM, which cited his “racially charged” and “hate-filled” remarks on Twitter as the reason.

SiriusXM spokesman Patrick Reilly said Friday that Cumia’s remarks and postings were “abhorrent” to the satellite radio company. In addition to racial remarks, they also included tweets and retweets that were degrading to women.

Reilly said the shock jock was fired late Thursday. Cumia’s Twitter response Friday included an obscenity in relation to SiriusXM. He said he was fired over material that was neither aired nor illegal.

Groban grows into comic roles

Josh Groban admits he was hesitant to show that he was more than a guy with a big voice who could perform sweeping ballads.

“For so much of my career I think I was a little bit protective of the brand or the image of the voice,” he said in a recent interview. “And that’s half of me. But I think I’ve been less afraid to let my freak flag fly a little bit – it has waved gloriously in the wind – and it’s been fun.”

Groban, 33, has shown his quick wit and easygoing personality on social media and as a guest host on “Live With Kelly!” before Michael Strahan was named Kelly Ripa’s permanent co-host.

Groban credits late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel for recognizing his comedic abilities.

“People like Jimmy Kimmel have been unbelievable to me in giving me skits and funny sketches to do when nobody else was giving me couch time because they just assumed with my style of music, I wouldn’t have a personality,” he said.

Now he’s stepping further outside his comfort zone as host of ABC’s new singing competition series, “Rising Star,” with Brad Paisley, Ke$ha and Ludacris.

Hillary Rodham Clinton’s book “Hard Choices” is on track to be one of the year’s top nonfiction books despite another slip in sales.

Nielsen BookScan says “Hard Choices” sold 26,000 copies during its third week of publication.

Clinton’s memoir about her years as secretary of state was published June 10 and sold more than 80,000 copies the first week and nearly 50,000 the second week. The numbers don’t include e-book sales, which comprise around 30 percent of the overall market.

“Hard Choices” has been the No. 1-selling nonfiction hardcover on The New York Times’ list for three straight weeks but has slipped on Amazon.com, ranking No. 57 as of Thursday night.

The birthday bunch

Actress Katherine Helmond is 85. Actress Shirley Knight is 78. Singer-musician Robbie Robertson is 71. Julie Nixon Eisenhower is 66. Rock star Huey Lewis is 64. Singer-songwriter Marc Cohn is 55. Actress Edie Falco is 51. Actress Jillian Armenante is 50. Rock singer Jason Wade (Lifehouse) is 34. Actor Ryan Hansen is 33. Country musician Dave Haywood (Lady Antebellum) is 32.