Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Meredith fired exec after racist remarks

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Meredith Corp., which owns KVVU-TV, the Fox affiliate in Las Vegas, fired the head of its broadcast group last fall after documenting his repeated comments criticizing blacks, including: "We've got to quit hiring all these black people."

The Des Moines-based media company fired Kevin O'Brien, who has homes in Las Vegas and San Francisco, in October, citing violations of its equal opportunity policies.

A company memorandum obtained by the Associated Press said an internal investigation found that he "made statements, often in the context of speaking about a minority employee, that employ racial and ethnic stereotypes and denigrate women."

O'Brien had urged colleagues not to hire black people and complained that an Atlanta TV station was "too black," the memo said.

O'Brien's attorney, David Casselman, of Tarzana, Calif., said the company's claims were meant to embarrass his client.

"The allegation that he is a racist is simply unfounded," Casselman said.

O'Brien, 62, did not return an e-mail message seeking comment.

He had been at Meredith for three years, overseeing 13 television stations and half of Meredith's 2,600 employees. He was credited with turning around the broadcast group, which reaches 10 percent of TV households in the country, and earned almost $2 million last year.

The Nov. 8 memo from the company's lawyer to O'Brien is one of few documents left unsealed in a lawsuit filed by Meredith against the former executive. O'Brien has filed documents seeking to unseal the case and is expected to file a countersuit alleging wrongful termination.

"There was far more going on here than what they have voluntarily disclosed and they hope to keep the truth a secret," Casselman said.

According to the memo, Meredith hired two labor lawyers to investigate complaints from the general manager of WGCL-TV in Atlanta. She was fired days later.

Meredith's top lawyer wrote in the memo to O'Brien that the investigation had confirmed that he made the following statements:

After reading parts of the memo, members of the National Association of Black Journalists were outraged.

"This was the true definition of a 'power bigot' -- he controlled 13 television stations," said Barbara Ciara, vice president of the group and an anchor at WTKR in Virginia. "Who knows how much damage he's done to the careers of unsuspecting black journalists?"

O'Brien is well known in broadcasting. He came to Meredith after 15 years as an executive with Cox Television Independent Group and had headed the California Broadcasters Association and the Association of Local Television Stations.

While at Meredith, he shook up management at several local stations and oversaw the acquisition of others. Analysts credited him with boosting profit.

The memo said O'Brien complained the Atlanta station hired too many black reporters and anchors.

He said a black weather forecaster should be fired because she was too fat. At the time, the woman was eight months pregnant.

O'Brien declined a business deal with a minority-owned station, writing in an e-mail: "I've never seen a minority broadcast enterprise work in my entire life, especially if they have control!"

At a company golf outing, O'Brien told a black waiter: "You probably don't like the same fruit as me. You look like a watermelon kind of guy."

The investigation also found that O'Brien solicited gifts from business partners, gave special attention to certain female employees and helped his daughter get an on-air job at a company station.

O'Brien remains unemployed and has complained in court documents that Meredith's allegations have ruined his reputation.

Meredith "took swift, decisive and appropriate action" against O'Brien, spokesman Art Slusark said. He said Meredith does not tolerate discrimination.

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