Howard Stern called out one of his colleagues on ‘racist’ comments he made about BTS and coronavirus.
The SiriusXM DJ branded Salvatore ‘Sal’ Governale an ‘a*****e’ after he claimed there was ‘no way’ the members of BTS didn’t have coronavirus.
Speaking on his show earlier this week, Stern, 66, explained that Governale, who has appeared on the station since 1996, was ‘freaking out’ because the Black Swan singers are from Korea.
He said: ‘BTS is from Korea and Sal was freaking out. BTS was here at Sirius on Friday and Sal was saying, “There’s no way those guys don’t have the coronavirus.” He was like every a*****e’.
Howard’s co-host Robin Quivers said that the band are ‘touring all the time’, with producer Gary Dell’Abate saying: ‘Every celebrity who walks through the door is traveling all over the world — not just Asians.’
Coronavirus, or COVID-19, began in Wuhan, China, not Korea, and while over 1,700 cases have been confirmed in South Korea, the virus has been identified in the US, the UK, Australia, Germany, France, Iran and Italy – where at least 400 cases have been diagnosed.
However, Sal doubled down on his comments, saying: ‘I walked into the lobby and it was like Chinatown, out of control, there were so many Asian people. These people are traveling, they’re not locals, they’re going from country to country to country.
‘It’s a dangerous situation. You got to look at it that way — they’re on airplanes; they’re in hotels.’
The following day, Stern revisited Sal’s comments as listeners issued complaints.
The shock jock said: ‘I got so many emails about what an idiot you are for avoiding a Korean boy band.’
One message called Governale and another show staffer Ronnie Mund, who said he would be avoiding Chinese food, ‘misinformed’ and ‘f***ing old, racist pieces of s***’.
Stern, a huge germaphobe, agreed with the racism accusation, saying: ‘I’m super paranoid about diseases and germs, but you came off as racist.’
The spread of coronavirus has impacted the entertainment industry, including the K-pop industry, with many bands including SEVENTEEN cancelling their trips to Europe.
BTS were forced to hold a press conference for their new album Map Of The Soul: 7 over live stream instead, while their upcoming music show performances will be filmed without an audience.
Elsewhere, Ireland’s Six Nations match against Italy, due to take place on 7 March, has been postponed, while there are concerns that coronavirus could effect the upcoming Olympics in Tokyo.
So far, over 81,000 cases have been confirmed globally, with over 2,900 deaths.
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