Dean Blundell hired by company that recently launched anti-sexual assault campaign

by Mark Teo

January 21, 2015

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Rogers Sportsnet hires Dean Blundell one year after Edge 102 fired him for homophobic remarks.

In case you haven’t yet heard, disgraced Toronto media personality Dean Blundell—formerly Edge 102’s shock jock—is back. This time, though, he’s found a new employer: Namely, Sportsnet Radio.

Blundell’s re-appearance on radio leaked yesterday, when it was announced that Tim and Sid, the radio’s station’s popular afternoon personalities, were moving to television. As such, the station was restructuring, and they were hiring Blundell, who—after The Dean Blundell Show was cancelled after criticisms of being homophobic and misogynistic—had taken his act to the podcasting world.

On one hand, Sportsnet’s move seemed logical: Love him or hate him, Blundell’s an A-list personality. He has a rabid following, generates lively discussion, and, as the Edge found out, he drives ratings. His new show, Dean Blundell and Co., will undoubtedly thrive on sports radio. We totally get why Sportsnet hired Dean Blundell—until we don’t.

It’s worth noting that Sportsnet is owned Rogers, and that’s significant for one reason: The Toronto-based media giant recently started #Project97, a campaign intended to start conversations about, in their words, sexual assault, abuse and harassment. In media circles, the campaign couldn’t be more timely—high-profile names like Bill Cosby and Jian Ghomeshi are embroiled in sexual assault scandals. Still, a reported 97 per cent of sexual assaults aren’t recorded as crimes, something Rogers purportedly understands—that’s why they’ve dubbed their campaign #Project97.

As written on City News, also a Rogers brand, the year-long campaign will be led by brands such as Maclean’s, Flare, and Chatelaine. They hope to change the conversation surrounding sexual assault. From City:

The vast majority of sexual assaults against women in this country — about 97 per cent — are never recorded as crimes by police. It is an outrageous statistic, and it’s the reason we have decided to launch a year-long project examining Canada’s staggering problems with sexual violence.

In most cases, police don’t investigate because assault victims haven’t come forward — though the 97 per cent figure also reflects the fact that some report but later withdraw their complaints. Women have plenty of reasons to want to avoid pressing charges: many find their encounters with the legal system, particularly the highly adversarial courtroom experience, as traumatizing as the original assault. They worry about how others will perceive them if they come forward as victims — particularly in the pile-on-and-think-later world of social media.

They may believe the justice system will be biased against them; they certainly know that once inside it, their own actions will be scrutinized.

On its own, #Project97 seems admirable. But Rogers made a massive blunder by hiring Blundell.

If they’re hoping to create a constructive conversation around sexual assault—and, perhaps, to change the perception that a justice system isn’t “biased against” victims—then it’s a head-scratcher that Rogers chose to work with Blundell. Lest we forget, The Dean Blundell Show nearly caused a mistrial in a sexual assault case: Producer Derek Welsman was a head juror on the case, and afterwards, he came on the show making prison-rape jokes. (He also discussed jury deliberations, which is totally illegal.)

Careless—and illegal—jokes like these certainly don’t contribute to the conversation. And if you think we’re being too sensitive, consider this: Blundell admitted the jokes were homophobic and offensive.

Beyond trivializing sexual assault, it’s also worth digging into Blundell’s misogynistic reputation—#Project97, after all, is meant to open discussion about sexual assault against women. In the past, his show has come under fire for jokes about women “shutting their mouth and doing chores,” mocking lesbians, and calling vaginas “foxholes.” Blundell maintains these comments were tongue-in-cheek, but let’s be frank: They’re degrading, shitty, and completely unnecessary comments. If Rogers is trying to empower victims of sexual assault, hiring a man who’s made offensively misogynyistic remarks is, quite frankly, a terrible idea.

Blundell, of course, can’t be blamed for his hiring. (He can, however, be blamed for being unfunny.) Maybe he’s changed. Maybe he’s under strict orders to tone down the misogyny. And maybe—just maybe—Blundell deserves a second chance. But for Rogers, we’ll put it bluntly: The optics look terrible.

Tags: Music, Cancon, News, Dean Blundell

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