Bernard McGurk is a regular on New York radio, and as an on-air foil to the so-called shock jock Don Imus, caused a stir when two men insulted the Rutgers women’s basketball team in a racist and misogynistic exchange. but only a brief hiatus, both carriers died on October 5. he was 64 years old.
The death was announced by WABC, the AM station that served as co-host of the popular morning show shortly before McGurk’s death. Prostate cancer was the cause, according to the department. The place where he died was never determined. He lived in Lido Beach, Long Island, New York.
After decades at Mr. Eyemus’ side, Mr. McGurk took over WABC’s drive timeslot in 2018 as one half of “Bernie and Sid in the Morning” with Sid Rosenberg. To the general public, however, he was probably better known for his events on April 4, 2007.
By then, McGuirk had been working on “Imus in the Morning” for 20 years. Joking around with host and newsman Charles McCord, he played an integral part in turning the show into a national syndicate his juggernaut. Political stories, author interviews, news updates, dirty jokes and more.
On the morning in question, Imus cut in during a discussion about the University of Tennessee’s victory over a largely black Rutgers team in the NCAA title game the previous night.
“It’s the rowdy girls from Rutgers,” he said. “They have tattoos—”
“Some hardcore hoes,” McGurk replied.
“There’s a diaper head over there,” Mr. Imus continued with a chuckle.
McGurk then quoted the plot of “Jigaboo vs. the Wannabe” from the Spike Lee movie “School Days.”
It didn’t take long for the exchange to skyrocket on the internet. Imus initially tried to downplay the accusations of racism. However, he soon admitted that his remarks “goed too far,” even on a show whose humor was often meant to offend.
The accusation that he was a racist was nothing new. In his 1998 CBS news program 60 Minutes, Imus told one of his producers, using common slurs, that McGurk’s job was to make nasty jokes about black people. I was. McGurk denied it. “I’m not a bigot,” he told The New York Times in 2000.
Immus has softened similar situations by apologizing in the past. Not this time.
Black organizations, women’s groups, employees of the company that broadcasts “Imus in the Morning” — CBS on radio. MSNBC on cable television — called for both men to be punished. Advertisers backed off. A large audience sided with Mr. Imus and Mr. McGurk. Many notable guests did not.
The show, which began on WFAN in New York, was quickly canceled and CBS fired both men. in an interview On the Fox News show Hannity & Colms.
He apologized to the Rutgers players, saying that if anyone made such a comment about his daughter, “I’d kick them in the teeth.” I tried to justify the exchange by saying that
“We live in a world of comedy and ridicule,” McGurk said in an interview. He also said that some of the offensive language in question “originates from the hip-hop community, which we appropriated.”
And, as in other cases, he cited his background as a further defense.
“I’m from the street,” he said.
Bernard Joseph McGurk Jr. was born on October 26, 1957 in the Bronx. His father, a bus driver, and his mother Patricia (Cunningham) McGurk were immigrants from Ireland.
Bernard Jr. grew up on a public housing estate in the South Bronx. The family later moved to Yonkers, New York, where he graduated from Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx.
After a few years of idleness, he enrolled at Mount St. Vincent College in the Bronx and drove a cab to pay his tuition. He received his degree in Communications in 1984.
“Morning Imus” is being held Simulcast on C-SPAN in 2000McGurk told interviewer Brian Lamb that listening to radio as a taxi driver led him to consider it a career.
“It seemed like an easy racket,” he joked.
His first step was an internship at WNBC-AM, the radio station where Mr. Imus was working at the time. His first day was unforgettable, as he said in 2018 when he chatted with Mr. Imus on the final day of the show being broadcast on WABC.
“I-Man,” said Mr. McGurk, referring to Mr. Imus. And I’m like, ‘Wow, this is going to be fun. “
When Imus’ producer broke his leg, McGuirk said in an interview with C-SPAN that someone else had to go get Imus’ coffee.
“They paid me like $10 an hour to do it. This was my first paid job in the industry,” he said.
Soon he was acting as a liaison with traffic reporters and handling other duties. is here. Producer of “Imus in the Morning” in 1987, later appointed executive producer.
Around the time of the Gulf War, “Imus in the Morning” began to move from traditional music-based AM programs to more news-driven programs. It has attracted politicians, journalists, historians, and others eager to appear before Imsu’s increasingly national audience.
In an interview, Michael Harrison, founder and publisher of talk and radio trade magazine Talkers, said McGurk’s transformation was laudable.
“He was a very smart man, with such a wide variety of intellectual interests and perspectives, that he was a huge influence in guiding Imus through the tricky task of putting on a show like this on the big stage.” Mr Harrison said.
For McGurk, the repercussions of Rutgers’ remarks went beyond his dismissal. An audition for a host job at a Boston station scheduled for May 2007 was canceled in the face of public pressure.
Then, in December 2007, just eight months after being fired, he resumed broadcasting with Mr. Imus under a contract with Citadel Radio. The show appeared on his WABC and dozens of radio affiliates, first on his RFD-TV, then on Fox Business Network and on his cable television, until his Mr. Imus retired in 2018. It was simulcast (he passed away in his 2019).
McGurk’s survivors include his wife, Carol (Petrovich) McGurk, whom he married in 1990. son, Brendan. and his daughter Melanie.
When Imus returned to radio after his forced hiatus, he hired two black comedians to try to inoculate the show against further accusations of racism.
One comedian, Caris Foster, left after about two years on a three-year deal. In an interview, she said her experience with the program was mixed. That’s largely because of Imus’ sudden mood swings and his view that she’s not “making fun of black people enough.”
Mr. Foster, who runs the corporate diversity consultancy Inversity, said Mr. McGurk was “always kind to me” and “he pushed me.” On his role in the Rutgers exchange, she noted that he was “true to his roots” as a “Bronx boy”, as he claimed.
Kirsten Noyes contributed research.