St. Louis radio host Vic Faust lost his television job as an anchor at the city's Fox 2 News following a leaked recording from his radio show in which he attacked a female co-host with a profanity-laden misogynist tirade.
The incident occurred during a commercial break in the September 13 episode of Faust's morning-drive radio show "The Edge," on which Faust is well-known for his combative conversations with guests.
In the leaked audio, Faust is heard berating his co-host Crystal Cooper, calling her misogynistic slurs and insulting her parenting, among other insults.
Hear the audio below.
WARNING: NSFW language
\u201cSo Vic Faust of Fox 2 news in St. Louis goes off in a misogynistic tirade on his co-host and nothing but \ud83e\udd97from the station. \n\nHello Kurt Krueger and news director Audrey Prywitch, anybody home?\u201d— AskAubry \ud83e\udd9d (@AskAubry \ud83e\udd9d) 1663706383
According to a report in the
St Louis Post-Dispatch, Faust used profanity at least 40 times during the tirade, in which he is heard calling Cooper a "fat, nasty bitch" as well as "stupid" and a "self-righteous bitch."
When Cooper attempted to defend herself, Faust yelled at her for "bringing up a stupid subject" by ribbing him for his poor computer skills on air.
Cooper countered another colleague mocked Cooper for the subject on air as well, but received no retaliation. She also reminded Faust he was "not [her] boss" and denied attacking him.
Faust responded by insulting her parenting.
“You had no fu*king reason to attack me on-air yesterday, and you did … Your kids have a terrible fu*king mom, I feel sorry for them.”
He was also heard ranting:
"The problem is you think whatever you do is right."
Last week, Faust's boss at St. Louis' Fox affiliate announced he had been fired.
He told the Post-Dispatch:
“Vic Faust no longer works for Fox 2, KPLR or [parent company] Nexstar Media.”
Faust took to Twitter to apologize in the wake of the incident, writing:
“I am very sorry. My words hurt Crystal, my colleagues and family. I made a huge mistake and I’m ashamed."
“As I work to earn trust again, I hope we can have an open dialogue about respect in the workplace and forgiveness.”
He has since deleted his Twitter profile.
On social media, the altercation left many people outraged.
\u201cand of course Vic Faust is Catholic...the hypocrisy so many (NOT all) have in that religion is part of why I left\u201d— BlueChipLogeBox (@BlueChipLogeBox) 1663637378
\u201cI feel good knowing that he actually read it. #VicFaust\u201d— Alex Taylor (@Alex Taylor) 1663789229
\u201cSo I see the weasel #VicFaust deleted his twitter account. It\u2019ll be interesting to see what #CrystalCooper does now. https://t.co/JMoInWRBsS\u201d— Andrea \ud83d\udc3e\ud83d\udc36\ud83d\udc15\ud83d\udc31 (@Andrea \ud83d\udc3e\ud83d\udc36\ud83d\udc15\ud83d\udc31) 1663834192
\u201cOh my god I have never heard a career-ending meltdown as over-the top as this. https://t.co/H0osiQKtZQ\u201d— Craig Calcaterra (@Craig Calcaterra) 1663677891
\u201cIf you haven't heard of the Vic Faust outburst, it is just another window into how women are treated unfairly in the entertainment/media industry. \n\nAlmost every woman I know in ent/media has been harassed, not taken seriously, and has been the subject of misogynistic comments.\u201d— Stina \ud83d\udd1cTwitchCon San Diego (@Stina \ud83d\udd1cTwitchCon San Diego) 1663680080
\u201cWell, it looks like Vic Faust is going to be looking for a job. I assume it will be one where he doesn't work with women.\u201d— Robert Tyson (@Robert Tyson) 1663685567
\u201cDisgusting POS I worry for his wife and children. He called Crystal FAT and STUPID over and over. What HELL is his family going through on a daily? #VicFaust\u201d— Dilly (@Dilly) 1663762147
\u201cHey Vic Faust, I listened to your manhood slip away and it wasn't pretty. @fox2now\u201d— Hi! (@Hi!) 1663677278
\u201cI\u2019m appalled and disgusted that anyone would speak like that to another human being. #VicFaust\u201d— Nina Dershem (@Nina Dershem) 1663764714
\u201cThe audio of St. Louis radio host Vic Faust blowing up at a female co-host (which leads off Rick's notebook below) is one of the most shocking lapses of judgment from a media personality that I've ever heard. His career has to be over after this ...\u201d— John Owens (@John Owens) 1663955675
According to the Post-Dispatch's reporting, Cooper's Facebook profile shows her last day of employment at "The Edge" as September 13, the day of Faust's attack.
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