‘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.