Music

Fired Edge 102 host Dean Blundell launches new podcast, says he's not homophobic

by Mark Teo

While Dean Blundell built his name on crass, crossed-the-line humour, he’s remained remarkably silent since his firing from Edge 102. During the course of his suspension and eventual dismissal, the shock jock was accused of homophobia when one of his producers openly mocked a sexual assault case. (Blundell, for his part, denied being homophobic.) When his show was cancelled, Edge 102’s ratings tanked, forcing the station to reinstate a CFNY classic, the Spirit of Radio. Desperate? Perhaps.

“I will have much more to say about this unfortunate situation in the coming weeks,” Blundell wrote in his blogon January 10. Now, months later, the disgraced radio host has finally revealed his plans: He’s launched a podcast DeanCast called “Off Air.” He posted the announcement on his site, while thanking his various allies and sponsors. In part, it reads:

Greetings,

I swear to God I thought putting together a website, some podcasts and a few fun events was going to be a hell of a lot easier than it turned out to be. I think I have been at this for over a year and every time I think it’s all set and ready to go something goes sideways, or gets cancelled. First off, thank you very much for all of the support over the past few months. I wasn’t able to say or do much and it was the outpouring of love and support from you guys that enabled me to stay positive, so thank you. I am really excited about this new site and I am having a ton of fun connecting with a bunch of friends on the podcasts and having open dialogue about things that we find funny and interesting. I look forward to your feedback on where it’s heading. Like I always said about the show this is ours not “mine”, so please if you have comments or ideas, email me here atdean@deanblundell.com.

The first two episodes of the podcast have been released; on the intro episode, Blundell says he’s not homophobic, that he’s not doing it as revenge, talks radio, says old Edge buddy Barry Taylor will join him on an episode in the near future, and talks about how much he loves his fans.

The second episode features comedian Darcy Michael and Blundell calls it probably the “dirtiest podcast he will ever do.”

Blundell and his new site promise future events under his name, too. So far the podcasta are available on Soundcloud—not iTunes.