Atlanta Radio Hosts Fired for Mocking Former Saints Captain Steve Gleason's Battle With ALS (Audio)

Steve Gleason There are some lines not meant to be crossed, but that didn’t stop three shock jocks in Atlanta from doing just that.

Atlanta radio station 790 The Zone’s Mayhem in the AM hosts Steak Shapiro, Nick Cellini and Chris Dimino were fired on Tuesday, after the show aired a segment mocking former Saints captain Steve Gleason. Gleason, who has ALS, wrote Peter King‘s Monday Morning Quarterback column using technology that allows him to communicate only by moving his eyes.

The Mayhem in the AM crew apparently found something funny about Gleason’s debilitating disease and its symptoms, so they had Cellini call into the show pretending to be Gleason. The trio exchanged crude jokes, including one in which they suggest Gleason would welcome death.

Cellini quickly apologized on his Twitter account for the segment. 790 The Zone followed up with an apology of its own and announced that the hosts had been suspended indefinitely. Later, they updated that statement to indicate the hosts had been fired.

“We deeply regret the offensive programming that aired this morning on Mayhem In The AM on 790 The Zone, related to former New Orleans Saints player Steve Gleason and his battle with ALS,” the station wrote in a statement. “We suspended the three individuals involved immediately following their comments and have since terminated their employment. 790 The Zone, our owners, sponsors and partners in no way endorse or support this kind of content. We sincerely apologize to Mr. Gleason, his family and all those touched by ALS.”

Listen to the segment in the player below, courtesy of Deadspin.

Those interested can donate to ALS research in Gleason’s name at TeamGleason.org.

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Photo via Facebook/Team Gleason