Chris Curtis, a radio host of Boston’s WEEI, has come under fire for what appeared to be an ethnic slur directed toward ESPN reporter Mina Kimes.
On Thursday, it was learned that Curtis was suspended over the incident.
The controversy erupted this week when Curtis and his co-hosts, Greg Hill and Courtney Cox, were discussing Boston City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo’s proposal to ban small alcohol bottles otherwise known as nips. Though a harmless word when used in its proper context, “nip” was previously employed as a racial slur against Japanese people during World War II (short for Nippon). It appeared that Curtis twisted the word for the latter definition when his co-host, Cox, asked them about their “top five nips” as she listed several alcoholic brands.
“I’d probably go Mina Kimes,” said Curtis.
Mina Kimes is half-Korean from her mother’s side, according to Fox News.
— Dave Cullinane (@davecullinane) March 22, 2023
Story on @_ChrisCurtis using an ethnic slur on WEEI this morning should be up shortly. No response to multiple requests over there, but get this — corporate claims he meant Mila Kunis, not Mina Kimes.
— Chad Finn (@GlobeChadFinn) March 22, 2023
When pressed by the Boston Globe about what Curtis meant by referencing Kimes, WEEI said that he mistook her for Ukrainian-Jewish actress Mila Kunis
“In a pathetic failed attempt at a one liner, I attempted to bring up Mila Kunis, which was not really that funny, sophomoric and sexist,” Curtis said on-air. “But for reasons I really don’t understand, I said Mina Kimes. That was never the intention for me to say her name. It had nothing to do with the subject matter, and it dragged her into a controversy through no fault of her own regarding a slur and her race and that was not at all what my intention was, but it doesn’t matter because of the absolute chaos my words created for someone who’s just doing her job covering the NFL at ESPN.
“So I want to apologize to Mina Kimes, I want to apologize for the stupid, lame attempt at a joke. It was something that there’s just really no other way to put it … it was dumb and it was silly.
Kimes later changed her Twitter profile pic to Mila Kunis to satirize the response.
.@minakimes remains undefeated pic.twitter.com/FvBT4AWCry
— Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby) March 22, 2023