Comedian Loses Radio Show After Calling Black Public Health Director a Racial Slur

Jason Robo, a 39-year-old comedian, lost his radio show after he hurled a racially charged comment at San Diego County Public Health Director Wilma Wooten, who is Black.

"You should resign, [Nora] Vargas. I can't wait for your arteries to clog. They're not doing it fast enough. And Nathan [Fletcher], you should kill yourself, a dishonorable discharge would be you blowing your brains out. [Terra] Lawson-Remer, I like to call you a little monkey. I'd like to see you hang from a tree. And [Dr. Wilma] Wooten, you're a f**king Aunt Jemima," Robo said during a Tuesday meeting held by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors concerning the COVID vaccine mandate.

The vice chairwoman and board supervisor at San Diego County, Nora Vargas, immediately interrupted Robo after he insulted Wooten and demanded that his microphone would be turned off.

Lauren Schmitt, the news director at KMUD radio station, confirmed to Newsweek on Thursday that Robo lost his radio show in Humboldt County because of his racially-charged remarks. Robo's two-hour show used to air on Saturdays on the KMUD radio station.

After knowing of Robo's comments, Schmitt said in a statement to according to the Times of San Diego that "immediate action is being taken."

Schmitt said that the station denounced the "several deplorable statements" that Robo, a volunteer at KMUD, made during the meeting and that it is discussing the fate of his future shows.

"The volunteer programmer in question has little to no direct relationship to the station, as their pre-recorded show is submitted," the KMUD statement to Newsweek read. "We would like to be clear that their opinions do not reflect our values. While these statements were made on an outside platform, we have begun the discussion into their future as a volunteer."

"While we understand the importance of free speech, we recognize the difference between that and hate speech. KMUD is dedicated to diversity, acceptance and understanding," KMUD's news director said.

Newsweek reached out to Robo for comment.

In response to questions about his comments at Tuesday's meeting, Robo told the Times of San Diego that he doesn't "trust the media and without having the opportunity to write my own statement then I am [hesitant] to participate."

Robo posted on Thursday an unaired interview he had with NBC San Diego where he denied being racist and said that he was only expressing his views about the COVID vaccine mandate.

After the Tuesday incident, Nathan Fletcher, chair of the Board of Supervisors at the San Diego County wrote on Twitter that the current meeting board policies will be reviewed to "ensure a welcoming and productive environment for the public to attend."

"We should all be outraged by the comments made at yesterday's meeting. It is unfortunate that some commenters at our Board of Supervisors meetings have taken an escalating low road in attacking county staff and members of the board," he said.

Updated 11/06/2021, 12:51 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with comments from KMUD News Director Lauren Schmitt.