Savage's abrupt "Wake up": CAA reportedly dumps radio host following Etheridge smears

Hollywood's Creative Artists Agency has reportedly dropped its representation of radio host Michael Savage two days after announcing that it had signed him as a client. CAA's dumping of Savage followed a rant on February 26, documented by Media Matters for America, over singer Melissa Etheridge's Academy Awards acceptance speech, in which she thanked her wife. Savage said, "I don't like a woman married to a woman. It makes me want to puke. ... I want to vomit when I hear it. I think it's child abuse."

On February 27, Media Matters noted Savage's comments, along with CAA's announcement that it had signed him. On March 1, the website TMZ.com reported that CAA had signed Savage and noted Savage's smears, linking to the Media Matters item. Later the same day, TMZ.com reported that, according to E!'s Planet Gossip blog, CAA had dumped Savage as a client and that "CAA confirmed to TMZ that Savage is no longer their client."

Etheridge, who is a CAA client, won the Oscar in the Original Song category for "I Need to Wake Up," from An Inconvenient Truth, the global-warming documentary featuring former Vice President Al Gore.

The weblogs Towleroad and Pam's House Blend both spotlighted Savage's smears of Etheridge.

—M.K.