via Twitter/@PresReed
Lewis Reed tweeted this photo of him in studio with Bob Romanik.
For anyone who’s ever listened to Bob Romanik’s On the Dark Side radio talk show on 1190 AM, it should come as no surprise that a recent episode is drawing controversy. After all, the ex-strip club owner/police chief and convicted felon is always coming after his political and personal enemies with a mixture of wild insults and abhorrent threats, all book-ended by the show’s trademark rainstorm sound effects as though forecasting the flood of complaints that’s to come.
So it’s not exactly news that Romanik tried to discredit 15th ward alderwoman Megan Green last month by calling her a “good-for-nothing, skanky bitch” who, in his words, deserves to be literally flushed down the toilet and sexually violated by a storybook character. For veterans of Romanik’s radio wars, it’s more of the same.
What did surprise St. Louisans listening to the January 11 tirade is that Romanik’s guest—Lewis Reed, president of the board of alderman and a former mayoral candidate—does nothing to distance himself from the insults even when the inflammatory radio host gives him opportunities to try.
UPDATE, 4 p.m.: Reed has apologized to women insulted by Romanik's comments via Twitter:
In his Twitter apology, Reed says he should have "interjected on air as I did off air" to stop Romanik's comments. To the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Reed says he was "waving my hands" to get Romanik to pull back on his extreme comments during the interview.
"He took it to a whole other place," Reed tells the P-D about Romanik. "It distracts from the central point that we're trying to get through."
UPDATE 2/10: Reed posted an apology letter on Facebook yesterday.
Our original story continues below.
Reed went on Romanik’s show last month to talk about the St. Louis Rams, which were then still days away from becoming the Los Angeles Rams, and to support his former campaign donor Romanik, who is running for state representative in Illinois.
But things turned quickly when Reed mentioned Green’s name while talking about locals who didn’t support the riverfront stadium project.
“What a b-…” Romanik starts, barely able to contain himself. “You know, never mind, I was going to say something tremendously, let’s take a quick break cause I’m pissed. Hey, Megan Green, give me a call, you no-count… Well, let’s go, let’s go to break.”
When the show returns from break, Romanik begins by saying Reed has already urged him to “calm down” his rhetoric about Green. Reed, who did not respond to SLM's attempts to reach him for comment, never says anything resembling this comment on the air.
“You know, I’ve got to say, President Reed, I’ve got nothing but respect for him, and we talked off the air and he asked me to calm down, and I’m going to try. But I really can’t. You people who listen to me every day. You know, I’m on my medication because President Reed is here, and I want to respect him and respect what he’s about. And he is a Christian, he is a decent man trying to fight, and I know he doesn’t probably endorse my antics on the air, and I understand that everybody’s got their own opinion. But he mentioned that name, Megan Green.”
Here’s where Romanik’s rant—and the YouTube clip criticizing Reed for condoning its sexist and violent tone—starts.
“Megan Green, what a no-count, low-life, good-for-nothing, skanky bitch you are,” Romanik says. “Here’s a white girl, makes me ashamed to be white, makes me ashamed to be white sometimes, this ignorant bitch, and I said ‘Bitch’ with a capital B.”
Read the full tirade for yourself in this transcript.
Why has Green ignited Romanik’s hatred? For starters, Green tweeted in December about the “deal-breaking, bribery and corruption” surrounding the city hall vote on the plan for a $1 billion riverfront football stadium. Local and federal investigations into her claims never found an actionable offense, and Green later described what she saw as “a legalized form of bribery” that “undermines the public policy process.” Reed characterized Green’s allegations as lies to reporters.
In the January 11 radio interview, Romanik makes a bizarre link between Green, who is accused of lying about being bribed, and being sexually assaulted by the classic children’s storybook character whose nose grows when he lies.
“Megan Green, you ever heard of Pinocchio?” Romanik begins. “Don’t stand in front of Pinocchio and tell a bunch of lies because he may tell some lies and that nose will grow and grow and no telling where it’ll end up in your skanky, greasy, good-for-nothing…,” Romanik trails off before giving Reed a chance to chime in, “OK, Lew, hold me back!”
Reed laughs, thanks Romanik, and stammers for five seconds before Romanik takes back the reins.
“This is nothing to do with Lew Reed,” Romanik says. “Lew Reed, for whatever reason, is trying to be diplomatic and nice to this lady. I sure as hell don’t want to be nice, and I don’t even know the bitch. So Lew, I’m going to give you the final word to the good people of St. Louis, and if you want to clean up my crap on Megan Green, whatever, you got the last couple minutes.”
With his last couple of minutes, Reed does nothing to distance himself from the sexist name-calling or violent imagery Romanik spews. Instead, he criticizes Green for pushing for police reform after the Ferguson shooting of Michael Brown before the grand finale: an endorsement of Romanik’s character as he runs for office in Illinois.
“I think you would be great to have over in the capitol over in Illinois,” Reed says. “It’d be nice to have you if we could switch you to the Democratic party to run over in Missouri...You need people who speak out, the people that stand for something. At the end of the day, we know you come from your moral center. You’re standing for what you believe in.”
St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay weighed in on the controversy on Twitter Monday...
...but Twitter followers followed up by asking if Slay also condemned Reed’s unwillingness to, as Romanik says, “clean up my crap.”
Reed’s chief of staff, Tom Shepard, posted in a neighborhood Facebook group that Reed would attend a future Tower Grove South meeting to address complaints from Green’s constituents.
Shepard adds that Reed did not make any of the offensive statements about Green. And that’s true. As you can hear, he was too busy laughing.
Contact Lindsay Toler by an email at LToler@stlmag.com or on Twitter @StLouisLindsay. For more from St. Louis Magazine, subscribe or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
