Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Maine Radio Broadcasters Fired After Body-Shaming Girls High School Basketball Players On Hot Mic

Maine Radio Broadcasters Fired After Body-Shaming Girls High School Basketball Players On Hot Mic
miodrag ignjatovic/Getty Images

In Aroostook County in the northernmost part of Maine, two radio broadcasters were fired after they body-shamed players on a high school girls basketball team on a live broadcast for WHOU radio station.

Aroostook County shares a border with Quebec and New Brunswick, Canada. The rural area is sparsely populated despite being the largest county east of the Mississippi.


Most of the area is timber and farm land dotted with small towns. As with many rural areas across the United States, high school sports are a matter of community concern—whether people have a child on the team or not.

Sports commentators Jim Carter and Steve Shaw made derogatory statements and laughed about the girls weight in reference to the Central Aroostook and Easton High School girls junior varsity teams.

One of them said:

"Easton has two girls out here - extremely overweight."
"Awful!"

The other replied:

"How come you don't get uniforms that fit the girls?"

Then the two men laughed.

Carter and Shaw were watching the monitors as they waited for a game at Caribou High School to begin.

youtu.be

Community backlash from high school basketball fans across Aroostook County was swift on social media.

Fred Grant, the owner of WHOU 100.1 FM in Houlton, Maine told the Portland Press Herald that Shaw, a former athletic director, and Carter, a former coach, had only broadcast for the station for about a month.

Grant said complaints about their comments came in immediately after they made them.

Grant posted an official response to Facebook saying the two men were terminated.

His message emphasized how horrible their words were, but also the dedication of student athletes during a global pandemic.

Grant wrote:

"All of our students deserve our respect."
"Our students are living through the most challenging times in our history."
"Not only are they struggling through a pandemic, they also have the challenges of living in an age of social media which many of us would say that’s even worse than the pandemic."
"I apologize that the broadcasters failed to see this fundamental belief and I apologize for their behavior."
"I know they are remorseful and I believe they, too, will continue to learn from their mistakes."

Grant also told the Press Herald their broadcasters are trained to focus on the game and highlight the good things happening in the community.

Somehow, these commentators forgot about that.

“It’s in writing. It’s verbalized. It’s repeated."
“They knew the deal. It’s a colossal failure by them.”

Superintendent Mark Stanley told NewsCenter Maine most people were angry when they first heard their comments, but the student athletes also received support.

Stanley said:

"I've received messages and my team has received messages from schools all over the state at this point."

Emily Hill, the Easton High School coach, has gotten messages and emails from many people in support of the student athletes.

Hill says she's most proud of her students:

"How proud I am of these girls for rallying together, rallying around each other, and supporting and lifting each other up."

Many people in the Northern Maine community are asking for the men to apologize publicly to the girls they singled out and to the entire community.

Bobbie Jo Adams/Facebook


Randi Bradbury/Facebook


Kathy Bushey/Facebook


Sammie Clemmer/Facebook


Stephanie Kilcollins Hill/Facebook

Dr. Christine Selby, a professor of psychology at Husson University, spoke of the damage of body shaming on mental health:

"When somebody hears something negative about their body they want to change it, especially if it comes from somebody who's who's important to them, although it doesn't have to be somebody important."

She emphasized the importance of positive support for these students:

"They need to feel like they're supported and that who they are and how they live is perfectly acceptable."

Grant says he feels terminating the broadcasters was the right move and he has no plans to give them a second chance.

Both men are members of Maine athletic halls of fame.

While the halls refused to revoke the men's inclusion, Steve Shaw requested the Maine Basketball Hall of Fame accept his request to withdraw.

The hall voted to accept Shaw's withdrawal.

More from Trending

unidentified female Trump supporter at MAGA rally
Eva Marie Uzcategui/Getty Images

MAGA Mom Goes Viral After Revealing Her Son Refuses To Talk To Her Because She Voted For Trump

While people grapple with how to handle family members and friends who voted against their basic human rights, the people in question are dealing with the fallout from their choices.

MAGA Republican President Donald Trump and the Republican Party's embrace of the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 made clear the rights of women; ethnic, racial and religious minorities; the disabled; immigrants; and the LGBTQ+ community were at risk.

Keep ReadingShow less
Mike Lee
Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

GOP Senator Faces MAGA Backlash Over Plan To Sell Millions Of Acres Of Public Land

Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee is facing harsh criticism—including from Team MAGA—over his proposal to sell off millions of acres of public land in the American West owned by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service to supposedly create more affordable housing.

Lee claimed in his proposal that there is an "extensive process for interested parties like States and local governments to nominate land for disposal to meet housing and community needs," noting that it specifically exempts national parks, monuments, and federally designated wilderness areas from potential land sales.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Trump Ripped For Complaining That Americans Get 'Too Many' Federal Holidays Off Work

While it was ultimately former President Joe Biden who established Juneteenth as a federal holiday, President Donald Trump—who once campaigned on that promise—took to Truth Social on Juneteenth to whine about the number of "non-working holidays" Americans get, claiming that it costs businesses "billions of dollars."

Juneteenth is derived from June 19, 1865, when Union troops led by General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and declared that all enslaved African Americans in the state were free.

Keep ReadingShow less
A woman sitting up in bed as a man sleeps next to her.
Florida State University Researchers Find Predictors for Infidelity in New Study
(Wodicka/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

The Biggest 'They're Definitely Cheating On Me!' Signs People Ignored

When our partner commits suspicious behavior, it's easy for us to jump to conclusions.

Most of the time, the conclusions we jump to are 100% wrong and are just our imaginations playing tricks with us.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @cassdamm's TikTok video
@cassdamm/TikTok

Woman Shares Why She Refuses To Tell Her Late Dad's Mistress Of 30 Years That He Died

While it doesn't always happen, sometimes we get to see karma at work—and sometimes, the revenge is sweet.

TikToker @cassdamm, who previously went viral for sharing the unhinged, five-page letter her 15-year-old son's principal sent, complaining about him "wandering the halls" and "being truant" for buying a drink on his way back to class, is openly celebrating the death of her father, but it's not for the reason you'd think.

Keep ReadingShow less