Boston radio host Tony Massarotti breaks silence after using ‘racial slur’ live on air

Boston radio host Tony Massarotti has apologized for his usage of a racial slur live on air this week.

Massarotti said the word ‘zipperhead’ – which has often been used against people of Asian descent – though he said on Thursday that he was trying to make a joke about a Gen-Z colleague’s age and had no knowledge of the racial meaning the word has.

‘…During [Wednesday’s] show, while we were discussing baseball’s Gold Glove awards, the voting and the data that went into it, I made reference to Tyler Milliken and people his age and their reliance on some of the metrics and how I didn’t believe in them,’ he said on ‘Felger & Mazz.’

‘And, in so doing, I used a derogatory term that was unbeknownst to me. I didn’t know that this term had a derogatory connotation. But I used it in reference to Milliken and his Gen Z brethren, for lack of a better term.’

He continued, ‘I have since come to the realization that, historically, there is some derogatory context for that term. Which, I assure you, I did not know.’ 

Boston sports radio host Tony Massarotti used a racial slur while on the air on Wednesday

The word was used by American military personnel to discriminate against Asian people during the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

Massarotti, 56, got into hot water last year for similar racially insensitive remarks which led to his suspension from the airwaves.

Back in February of 2023, Massarotti was addressing cohost Michael Felger, who was working remotely, when the former referred to two African-American men sitting in the background .

In February 2023, Massarotti (L) made remarks about Black people deemed racially insensitive

‘I wanna know now who the two guys behind you are,’ Massarotti asked Felger, who was co-hosting the show from a hotel in New Orleans, according to WCVB .

‘They can’t hear us, right? OK, so I would be careful if I were you. Because the last time you were around a couple of guys like that, they stole your car.’

He later clarified that he was only trying to ‘poke fun’ at Felger, who reportedly had his car stolen in New Orleans in the fall.