What did Don Geronimo say about Sharla McBride? Barbie controversy explained as a sports radio host is fired

Washington DC-based radio host Don Geronimo who worked with WBIG Radio was fired by its parent company iHeartMedia on Saturday, July 29, 2023. He was fired for making allegedly disparaging and s*xist remarks about a female TV reporter.

Reporter Sharla McBride, who is associated with WUSA9, was covering the football team Washington Commanders during a training match in Ashburn, Virginia on Friday, July 28, 2023.

During his show, when Don Geronimo was covering the Washinton Commanders from the premises, he saw McBride was also there. Upon seeing her, he went on to say on air that he believed McBride was a cheerleader.

“Hey look, Barbie’s here. Hi, Barbie girl. I’m guessing she’s a cheerleader,” Don said on his show.

Initially, Geronimo's Barbie remarks led to the Washington Commanders boycotting iHeartMedia from the team’s training camp facilities. However, after an internal review, the company decided to terminate Geronimo.

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“I felt incredibly insulted and embarrassed”: Sharla McBride’s reaction after Don Geronimo’s remarks

Don Geronimo, whose real name is Michael Sorce, co-hosted the radio show BIG 100 with Crash Young. However, this wasn't the only time that either of the two had made comments about McBride. Before Geronimo referred to Sharla McBride as a "Barbie girl," his co-host had called her "tight" when she entered the premises to broadcast the training camp activities.

However, that still wasn't all as later the same day, when Geronimo saw McBride taking interviews, he pointed her out to Young.

“Oh hey. There’s the chick you thought…said tight,” Geronimo said to Young.

To this, Young confirmed that he did say so, before being interrupted by Geronimo who mistook McBride as a “sportscaster at Channel 9 or Channel 7” without knowing her identity.

As soon as Washington Commanders heard what happened, it banned iHeartMedia from broadcasting on its training camp premises. The team also made the radio station WBIG Radio fire Don Geronimo. Additionally. Crash Young too was temporarily removed from his broadcasting duties, as reported by Fox News.

As per Washington Post, iHeartMedia’s D.C. Region President Aaron Hyland made a statement about the incident. He said that Don Geronimo is no longer an employee of WBIG. He added that the company takes such matters "very seriously" and that Don's behavior didn't align with their core values.

It is worth noting that parting ways with Geronimo may have been the only way for iHeartMedia to save its three-year contract with Washington Commanders which was signed in 2022.

Sharla McBride told ESPN that she was “hurt” by the remarks made by Geronimo. She said that when she heard the comments where Don thought she was a cheerleader, she felt "incredibly insulted and embarrassed.”

She added how in her 17 years long career as a professional journalist, she has never been disrespected in such a "blatant" manner.

“Their words were s*xist and misogynistic. No woman should experience this in the workplace, and I appreciate the Commanders' swift response in handling this matter,” she continued.

As per WUSA9, its new team owner Josh Harris and team president Jason Wright were also upset about the entire incident. Interestingly, Geronimo tweeted on Sunday that he wasn’t going to comment on what happened.

Don Geronimo is a 64-year-old radio personality best known as the host of the former nationally acclaimed radio talk show Don and Mike Show and The Don Geronimo Show. He began his career in the 1980s for the Chicago-based WLS-FM followed by WBBM-FM. Later, he was also associated with WAVA-FM of Washington D.C. before joining WBIG in 2021 as a sports radio host.