US radio hosts apologise for racist remark on Sikh Attorney General

New York, July 27

Two radio hosts in New Jersey, who called America’s first Sikh-American Attorney General Gurbir Grewal “turban man” on air, have apologised for their racist remarks and have been slapped with a 10-day suspension for using “demeaning and inappropriate” language.

Dennis Malloy and Judi Franco, who host the “Dennis and Judi Show” on NJ 101.5FM, were talking about Grewal’s decision to suspend marjiuana prosecutions in New Jersey when they repeatedly called him the “turban man” on Thursday. In the remarks termed as “racist”, Malloy had said he was never going to know Grewal’s name and will instead just call him “guy with a turban”.

Malloy issued an apology on Franco’s and his behalf in a video message. “On behalf of Judy and myself, I want to convey our very heartfelt apology to the state attorney general of New Jersey for the comments that came out on our show. “He deserves much more respect than that and importantly to the Sikh and South Asian community of New Jersey with which we’ve had close ties.” — PTI