Connect with us

This Radio Show’s Disgusting Homophobic Pranks Just Hit the National Airwaves

Published

on

‘Brooke and Jubal’ Features Phone Calls from Effeminate, Sexualized Caricature of a Gay Man

Seattle-based radio program Brooke and Jubal recently entered the national syndication arena, bringing with it co-host Jubal Flagg’s “phonetaps” in which he prank calls targets in the guise of, amongst others, an overtly effeminate, highly sexualized caricature of a gay man.

Premiere Networks, a subsidiary of iHeartMedia that syndicates conservative radio shows like The Sean Hannity Show and The Rush Limbaugh Show, announced in March that it had obtained the rights to distribute the show. The network describes Brooke and Jubal as “[featuring] conversation on the latest happenings in pop culture and entertainment, hilarious skits and listener interaction,” airing weekdays between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. nationwide.

The so-called hilarious skits include co-host Jubal’s aforementioned “phonetaps,” in which Flagg solicits listeners to submit ideas for prank calls. Listeners are asked to provide ideas, the expected reaction and “two things that really bug” the receiving party: namely, what’s going to upset them enough to evoke a negative, and thus radio-worthy, reaction.

One tool Flagg employs to evoke these reactions is the character Movin’ 92.5 often refers to as “everyone’s favorite sassy Christian” — his overtly effeminate, self-absorbed, highly sexualized caricature of a gay man, now airing in various timeslots nationwide.

Versions of this character appear to have been part of Flagg’s “comedy” since at least the 2008 election cycle, as seen in videos of a “convergaytion” in which he weeps over “the best American” Perez Hilton and the potential of “our greatest assets” (celebrities) leaving the country. But the character of Christian appears to have first made an appearance as a “phonetap” regular in 2011’s “Christian is stuck in the closet.”

While the audio of Christian’s debut on the station’s website is no longer available, more likely due to its tenure than its offensive nature, the description asserts that “Christian gets what Christian wants!”

Some examples of what the character has wanted since, which are currently circulating nationwide as new content via syndication, include:

• Arguing with a straight man that he’s accidentally booked a gay cruise, asserting that he’ll go on the cruise or Christian will spank him, insisting that “everybody’s ‘not gay’ until they’ve tried it”:

• Insisting that a straight man’s bride-to-be is a “bridezilla,” and insulting her appearance before complimenting his own:

• Convincing a straight woman that he’s training her boyfriend, with the goal of getting him in shape so that he can find someone more attractive than her:

• Making a dinner reservation with a laundry list of demands: new menus to accommodate his recent manicure, a reservation time three hours before his arrival to ensure that he’s fashionably late and a table where everyone can see him:

• Attempting to convince a straight man’s personal assistant that he’s the extramarital boyfriend of her boss. After the prank is revealed, the two casually laugh about the idea of her boss having a “gay lover that he was hiding”:

• Convincing a man that Christian is a personal trainer at the gym he attends, and that he needs to start working out elsewhere because he’s more attractive than Christian. After a rather long description of his “tasty abs,” Christian insists that he needs to go because, “I’m the hot one at the gym”:

• While there are more examples, finally: Lodging a complaint to a retail manager because her “minions” were awestruck by how attractive he was. This was a detriment to his well-being as they brought him a larger pair of pants to try on, implying he was fat:

The character of Christian isn’t Flagg’s only portrayal of gay men, however. In another prank, he calls the brother of a prison inmate who asked only that his brother be made “nervous.”

After Jubal reveals that the conversation’s been a prank, it ends with the two men laughing about how “hopefully [his] brother’s nobody’s butt steak.” Here’s the full audio: 

Fox-syndicated show Dish Nation, which “dishes on celebrity news with humorous commentary on pop culture,” has further displayed the Brooke and Jubal team and their stance on LGBT representation.

One video featured a broadcast of the show highlighting a segment in which, rather than “pranking the audience, [they] prank[ed] each other,” and shows a same-sex kiss between Jubal and a horrified, overtly disgusted team member concerned that others might think he’s gay.

In a follow-up video, the entire Brooke and Jubal team muse over an audience member believing that Flagg and the team member are in fact gay, leading him to jokingly indicate that he’s strived his entire life to “be an icon to the gay community.” (This shouldn’t be shocking, co-host Brooke advises, as Flagg “[takes] his shirt off every moment [he] can.”) The horrified, overtly disgusted team member, of course, remains horrified and overtly-disgusted.

Often, the pranks made on the show are made on straight men, at the request of other straight men, and are always carried out by Flagg, a straight man, as another straight man laughs in the background. Undoubtedly, however, they aren’t only heard by straight men.

In February, Nielsen released its annual State of the Media report, concluding that 265 million Americans ages 6 and up listen to the radio on a weekly basis. The study indicated that radio reaches 93 percent of the population weekly, more than any other platform, including television, TV-connected devices, PCs, smartphones and tablets.

Nielsen determined that 66.5 million millennials (ages 18-34) use the radio weekly, spending an average of 11 hours and 9 minutes listening, and studies have also concluded that of millennials alone, 10.8 million US households have children, many of which are potentially LGBT.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), just two weeks ago, released its national report on the health risks facing children and teenagers, specifically those that identify as lesbian, gay and bisexual:

• More than 40 percent of LGB students seriously considered suicide and 29 percent reported attempting suicide in the past year.

• Sixty percent of LGB students reported having been so sad or hopeless that they stopped doing some usual activities.

• LGB students were up to five times more likely than other students to report using several illegal drugs.

• More than one in 10 LGB students have missed school during the past 30 days because of safety concerns.

While the at-risk youth live in a society where 72 percent of Americans support LGBT non-discrimination laws, they also live in a society where 28 percent do not. Likewise, while they live in a country where 62 percent of Americans support same-sex marriage, 38 percent do not.

They live in a society where just over two months ago, 49 members of the LGBT community were murdered in the country’s deadliest mass shooting — a hate crime that was the worst terror attack since 9/11.

They live in a society where a man claiming to be a “Christian warrior” was only just arrested for a YouTube video, viewed over 73 million times, in which he threatened to massacre “gays, f*gg*ts, lesbians and satanists.”

And they live in a society where a man running a presidential candidate’s campaign is well-known for his anti-LGBT news site that’s published headlines such as, “Dear Straight People: I’m officially giving you permission to say gay, f*gg*t, and queer.”

The CDC’s report doesn’t indicate, however, if the 40 percent of LGB students who have considered suicide in the past year, or their potentially homophobic parents, fellow students or bullies who have led to over one in 10 students missing school for safety concerns, are among the 265 million Americans listening to the radio on a weekly basis.

The number of LGBT listeners of the show, voluntary or not, is unknown. Also unknown is the number of those in the LGBT community who aren’t in a position to find humor in a straight man pranking another straight man, at the request of another straight man, as another straight man laughs in the background.

Despite this, “Brooke and Jubal’s tremendous success in Seattle and Portland proves they can deliver quality programming that drives results in a highly-competitive landscape,” Premiere Networks President Julie Talbott said. “[We] look forward to expanding Brooke and Jubal’s unique brand of entertainment to additional markets across the country.”

Recent expansions include Meadview, Arizona, Las Vegas, Nevada, Louisville, Kentucky, Biloxi, Mississippi, Columbia, South Carolina, and Tampa, Florida.

Rachel Nelson, Peremiere Networks contact for guests, media and listeners, did not respond to a request for comment.

 

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment
 
 

Enjoy this piece?

… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.

NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.

Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.

News

‘Blood on Your Hands’: Tennessee Republicans OK Arming Teachers After Deadly School Shooting

Published

8 hours ago

on

April 23, 2024

By

Republicans in the Tennessee House passed legislation Tuesday afternoon allowing teachers to carry concealed weapons in classrooms across the state, thirteen months after a 28-year old shooter slaughtered three children and three adults at a Christian elementary school in Nashville.

The measure is reportedly not popular statewide, with Democrats, teachers, and parents from the school, Covenant Elementary, largely opposed. The Republican Speaker of the House, Cameron Sexton, at one point literally shut down debate on the bill by shutting off a Democratic lawmaker’s microphone and then smiling.

Ultimately, Republican Rep. Ryan Williams’s legislation passed the GOP majority House as protestors in the gallery shouted their objections: “Blood on your hands.”

READ MORE: Trump Complains He’s ‘Not Allowed to Talk’ as He Gripes Live on Camera

The legislation bars parents from being informed if their child’s teacher has a gun in the classroom.

State Troopers were called to “prevent people from getting close to the House chambers,” WSMV’s Marissa Sulek reports.

“You’re going to kill kids,” one woman had yelled at Rep. Williams from the gallery on Monday, The Tennessean reports. “You’re going to be responsible for the death of children. Shame on you.”

READ MORE: Biden Campaign Hammers Trump Over Infamous COVID Comment

Democratic state Rep. Justin Jones said on social media, “This is what fascism looks like.”

“In recent weeks,” the paper also reports, “parents of school shooting survivors, students and gun-reform advocates have heavily lobbied against the bill, with one Covenant School mom delivering a letter to the House on Monday with more than 5,300 signatures asking lawmakers to kill the bill.”

The bill, which already passed the state Senate, now heads to Republican Governor Bill Lee’s desk. He is expected to sign it into law.

Watch the videos above or at this link.

Continue Reading

OPINION

Trump Complains He’s ‘Not Allowed to Talk’ as He Gripes Live on Camera

Published

10 hours ago

on

April 23, 2024

By

At the end of another short courtroom day that required barely three hours of Donald Trump’s time, the ex-president spoke to reporters inside Manhattan’s Criminal Courts Building to complain about a wide variety of perceived and alleged wrongs he is suffering, including, not being “allowed to talk.”

The ex-president’s presence was required only from 11 AM until just 2 PM. Judge Juan Merchan is overseeing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s prosecution of the ex-president in a case that has already drawn a straight line through the “hush money” headlines to correct them to alleged criminal conspiracy and election interference.

Judge Merchan, for nearly two hours Tuesday morning, heard prosecutors’ allegations that Trump has violated his gag order ten times, and heard defense counsel’s claims that he had not.

It did not go well for the Trump legal team, with Judge Merchan toward the end of the hearing, during which no jurors were allowed, telling Trump lead attorney Todd Blanche, “You’re losing all credibility.”

READ MORE: Biden Campaign Hammers Trump Over Infamous COVID Comment

During the day’s hearing, jurors heard prosecutors’ lead witness, the former head of the company that publishes the National Enquirer tabloid, David Pecker, explain how he was working to help the Trump campaign.

“David Pecker testifies that, following his 2015 meeting with Trump and [Michael] Cohen, he met with former National Enquirer editor-in-chief Dylan Howard,” MSNBC’s Kyle Griffin reports. “Pecker outlined the arrangement and described it as ‘highly private and confidential.’ Pecker asked Howard to notify the tabloid’s West Coast and East Coast bureau chiefs that any stories that came in about Trump or the 2016 election must be vetted and brought straight to Pecker — and ‘they’ll have to be brought to Cohen.’ Pecker told Howard the arrangement needed to stay a secret because it was being carried out to help Trump’s campaign.”

Trump did not discuss any evidence against him with reporters, but he did complain about the gag order. And President Joe Biden. And the temperature in the courtroom. And his apparent attempt to stay awake, which has been a problem for him almost every day in court.

“We have a gag order, which to me is totally unconstitutional, I’m not allowed to talk but people are allowed to talk about me,” Trump told reporters, emphasizing the last word in that sentence.

“So they can talk about me, they can say whatever they want, they can lie. But I’m not allowed to say anything, I just have to sit back and look at why a conflicted judge has ordered me to have a gag order.”

READ MORE: ‘Rally Behind MAGA’: Trump Advocates Courthouse ‘Protests’ Nationwide

“I don’t think anybody’s ever seen anything like this,” Trump claimed, falsely implying no criminal defendant has ever had a gag order imposed on them previously. “I’d love to talk to you people, I’d love to say everything that’s on my mind, but I’m restricted because I have a gag order, and I’m not sure that anybody’s ever seen anything like this before.”

Trump then started to discuss the “articles” in his hand, what appeared to be dozens of articles he said had “all good headlines,” while implying they claimed “the case is a sham.”

Trump oversimplified the legal arguments attached to his gag order, as discussed with Judge Merchan Tuesday morning. The judge has yet to rule on prosecutors’ request to hold Trump in contempt.

“So I put an article in and then somebody’s name is mentioned somewhere deep in the article and I end up in violation of a gag order,” he told reporters, apparently referring to his posts on Truth Social with persecutes say violated his gag order. “I think it’s a disgrace. It’s totally unconstitutional. I don’t believe it’s ever – not to this extent – ever happened before. I’m not allowed to defend myself and yet other people are allowed to say whatever they want about me. Very, very unfair.”

“Having to do with the schools and the closings – that’s Biden’s fault,” Trump said, strangely, as if the COVID pandemic were still officially in process. “And by the way, this trial is all Biden, this is all Biden just in case anybody has any question. And they’re keeping me, in a courtroom that’s freezing by the way, all day long while he’s out campaigning, that’s probably an advantage because he can’t campaign.”

“Nobody knows what he’s doing. he can’t put two sentences together. But he’s out campaigning. He’s campaigning and I’m here and I’m sitting here sitting up as straight as I can all day long because you know, it’s a very unfair situation,” Trump lamented. “So we’re locked up in a courtroom and this guy’s out there campaigning, if you call it a campaign, every time he opens his mouth he gets himself into trouble.”

Watch below or at this link.

Continue Reading

News

Biden Campaign Hammers Trump Over Infamous COVID Comment

Published

13 hours ago

on

April 23, 2024

By

Four years ago today then-President Donald Trump, on live national television during what would be known as merely the early days and weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, suggested an injection of a household “disinfectant” could cure the deadly coronavirus.

The Biden campaign on Tuesday has already posted five times on social media about Trump’s 2020 remarks, including by saying, “Four years ago today, Dr. Birx reacted in horror as Trump told Americans to inject bleach on national television.”

Less than 24 hours after Trump’s remarks calls to the New York City Poison Control Center more than doubled, including people complaining of Lysol and bleach exposure. Across the country, the CDC reported, calls to state and local poison control centers jumped 20 percent.

“It was a watershed moment, soon to become iconic in the annals of presidential briefings. It arguably changed the course of political history,” Politico reported on the one-year anniversary of Trump’s beach debacle. “It quickly came to symbolize the chaotic essence of his presidency and his handling of the pandemic.”

How did it happen?

“The Covid task force had met earlier that day — as usual, without Trump — to discuss the most recent findings, including the effects of light and humidity on how the virus spreads. Trump was briefed by a small group of aides. But it was clear to some aides that he hadn’t processed all the details before he left to speak to the press,” Politico added.

READ MORE: ‘Cutting Him to Shreds’: ‘Pissed’ Judge Tells Trump’s Attorney ‘You’re Losing All Credibility’

“’A few of us actually tried to stop it in the West Wing hallway,’ said one former senior Trump White House official. ‘I actually argued that President Trump wouldn’t have the time to absorb it and understand it. But I lost, and it went how it did.'”

The manufacturer of Lysol issued a strong statement saying, “under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route),” with “under no circumstance” in bold type.

Trump’s “disinfectant” remarks were part of a much larger crisis during the pandemic: misinformation and disinformation. In 2021, a Cornell University study found the President was the “single largest driver” of COVID misinformation.

What did Trump actually say?

“And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out, in a minute,” Trump said from the podium at the White House press briefing room, as Coronavirus Task Force Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx looked on without speaking up. “Is there a way we can do something like that? By injection, inside, or almost a cleaning, ’cause you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it would be interesting to check that. You’re going to have to use medical doctors, right? But it sounds interesting to me.”

READ MORE: ‘Rally Behind MAGA’: Trump Advocates Courthouse ‘Protests’ Nationwide

Within hours comedian Sarah Cooper, who had a good run mocking Donald Trump, released a video based on his remarks that went viral:

The Biden campaign at least 12 times on the social media platform X has mentioned Trump’s infamous and dangerous remarks about injecting “disinfectant,” although, like many, they have substituted the word “bleach” for “disinfectant.”

Hours after Trump’s remarks, from his personal account, Joe Biden posted this tweet:

Tuesday morning the Biden campaign released this video marking the four-year anniversary of Trump’s “disinfectant” remarks.

See the social media posts and videos above or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Election Interference’ and ‘Corruption’: Experts Explain Trump Prosecution Opening Argument

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2020 AlterNet Media.