Following an April 27 Colorado Media Matters item noting 630 KHOW-AM host Peter Boyles' promotion of a YouTube video featuring a comedian who calls himself “The Amazing Racist” -- and who physically attacks and slurs “Mexicans” in the video -- Boyles claimed on his April 30 show that “I've never seen the video. I've never told anybody to see the video.” However, as Colorado Media Matters noted, before attempting to play the audio of the clip on the air April 25, Boyles said that the video was “really something to see” and that it could “be found easily; just go to YouTube.”

According to the website Tolerance.org, which is a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, “The Amazing Racist” is Ari Shaffir, a Los Angeles comedian who “specializes in what he calls 'racial comedy,' purposely offending his subjects for laughs.” The website reported that the video (registration required because of “inappropriate” content) Boyles referred to on his April 25 broadcast was released in May 2005. Titled “Beaners,” it was a “so-called joke, staged for the sake of comedy. And the Mexican workers were paid to appear in the clip.”

As Colorado Media Matters noted, the video Boyles directed his listeners to watch features Shaffir repeatedly using racist language and promoting offensive ethnic stereotypes. In addition to driving “illegals” to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office, Shaffir and a character portraying his “son” in another segment throw oranges at a man while calling him a “f

---

ing beaner” and telling him to “go eat some rice and tacos.” Another segment shows Shaffir touching a Latino man's back and exclaiming, “It's wet, it's a wetback, it's true,” calling several restaurant workers “spics,” and referring to Mexicans as “the lowest of the low.”

On his April 30 show, Boyles read from the Colorado Media Matters item and repeatedly said that he had not seen the video, later claiming, “I don't think we ever said any of this.” At one point he paraphrased the item, saying, “Boyles never mentioned the video allegedly is comedy sketches,” then asserted, “I never mentioned it other than just saying, 'Hey, I saw it' -- or, I didn't even, I didn't see it. But some guy told me about it. This is the stuff that these guys are generating.” However, according to the transcript of his April 25 show, Boyles stated that the video was “really something to see” and attempted to play a segment of it on the air before an unidentified person in the studio cut him off by saying, “That's not what you want”:

BOYLES: I was mentioning earlier, I got a call from a friend who said, “You gotta watch this thing -- what these guys are doing” -- and there's a video on YouTube of a guy who calls himself, interestingly enough, “The Amazing Racist.” Goes down to his truck at a day labor spot, gets all the Mexicans standing outside, offers them, “Here it is, fifty bucks for a day's work,” and then drives them to ICE. And -- it's really something to see. It can be found easily; just go to YouTube, so if we can do this -- no?

UNIDENTIFIED: That's not what you want.

BOYLES: No? And do this. All right -- I don't know.

Throughout the April 30 broadcast, Boyles also suggested that he was going to be “Imused” -- a reference to nationally syndicated host Don Imus, who recently was fired by CBS Radio and had the simulcast of his radio program dropped by MSNBC after calling the Rutgers women's basketball team “nappy-headed hos.” After stating, “I've never seen the video. I've never told anybody to see the video,” Boyles further stated, “I'm not apologizing for jack fill-in-the-blank. Whatever anybody -- whatever anybody -- 'cause once you do that, once you do that, that's an admission that you did something wrong. I didn't do anything wrong.”

From the April 30 broadcast of 630 KHOW-AM's The Peter Boyles Show:

BOYLES: But here's what I found out over the weekend. And I want everybody to know it, because I think it's coming our way. I have a very, very close source -- a friend outside of this radio station, outside of this building, who called me and said, “Pete, do you know there's a committee forming against you?” And I said, “No.” Now, these are the names that this source gave me. And this source is extremely reliable. Polly Baca, Federico Peña, Butch Montoya, and Wellington Webb, and others. Now, I had a choice with this. I thought about this a lot yesterday. I thought, “What do I do with this?” Now these are -- every one of these people we've invited on this radio show, with the exception of Wellington Webb, who came on and it was a pretty heated conversation. And if you heard it, you knew how asinine His Honor sounded. Polly Baca we've invited on many, many times. Frederico Peña we've invited on; Butch we've invited on. And it's others. But this -- they're going to, quote, “Imus” me. Now, last week here on 630 KHOW a young guy I know -- African-American guy, in fact -- called me on the phone and said, “Hey, have you seen this thing on YouTube” -- or “You View” or something -- “where this guy goes around and picks up illegals and says he's giving them 50 bucks a day?” I'd never seen the tape and I still haven't seen -- seen the tape. And drives them around to, says he's going to pick them up and give them 50 dollars, and then the guy takes them to ICE or something. I said, “No, it sounds like a funny idea.” And I said it on the air. Now, I'd never seen the tape or anything, but apparently the guy wears a hood and the Klansmen stuff and everything like that -- I don't know, I haven't seen -- still haven't seen it. That's what starts this: that I had said that. That I liked that video. Never saw the video; never said I liked it. But I thought -- I said, “If it's true, it was a funny idea.” Now, that's been used against me apparently -- and I didn't know any of that. But that's OK. Once again, it's OK. I, I welcome all of these people. They should be there. But now I'm told there's going to be a concerted effort to get rid of this show -- this show. And I'll name the people: Polly Baca, Federico Peña, Fidel “Butch” Montoya, and W. Webb are the names I was given by an extremely reliable source.

[...]

CALLER: Yeah, cool. I thought I'd give you a heads up that YouTube clip you're referring to is actually something off of Comedy Central.

BOYLES: No, I, I know it is. He's the guy who -- and, by the way, he's like -- it's like Borat. He's, he's a Jewish comic.

CALLER: Oh, so you know about him.

BOYLES: Yeah, sure. I mean, look, this friend of mine calls me -- young kid, African-American kid -- and says, “Peter, you'll laugh out loud. You gotta see it.” All right, this is the headline: “Boyles promoted video featuring physical attacks and ethnic slurs against 'Mexicans.' ”

CALLER: It's a comedy sketch.

BOYLES: Of course it is. This is even bad by Peter Boyles' standards, to air -- on his Wednesday's broadcast Boyles touted a video available on YouTube by a racial comedian that includes scenes of Hispanics being physically attacked and called such names as ... Boyles never mentioned the video allegedly is comedy sketches. I never mentioned it other than just saying, “Hey, I saw it” -- or, I didn't even, I didn't see it. But some guy told me about it. This is the stuff that these guys are generating.

CALLER: You get in trouble for saying it's funny when it's on a comedy channel.

[...]

BOYLES: No. And what's interesting is this mention of this video because -- and I'll get this kid on. He's young, African-American kid. I had him under my wing. He's now doing really well in another, another job. And he called me when I got back from D.C. and he had seen it. And he said, “Man, you gotta see it; it's pretty funny.” And I was real busy, and I said, “OK.” And then, and then we mentioned it in passing. I've never seen the video. I've never told anybody to see the video. But this is the demand now: that I apologize for that. And I'm going -- and that's when -- then later I was told, “You're going to be 'Imused.' ” And they -- that was the term that was used: “You're going to be 'Imused.' ” Well, I'm not apologizing for jack fill-in-the-blank. Whatever anybody -- whatever anybody -- 'cause once you do that, once you do that, that's an admission that you did something wrong. I didn't do anything wrong.

[...]

BOYLES: When I returned from Washington, D.C., on Tuesday -- I was real tired and remember the weather was bad -- I get a phone call, young kid used to work on a job with us. African-American kid. Says, “Hey, Pete, do you know about this thing on television, or YouTube, or something about this guy picking up illegals at these work stations and driving them?” I said, “No, I didn't see that; I don't know anything about that.” He said, “Man, it's really funny. You ought to talk about it. You ought to see that.” And he's not setting, setting me up for anything. So I mentioned it briefly on the air. I have not seen it or anything like this. Here comes this headline [laughing]:

Boyles promotes video featuring physical attacks and ethnic slurs against, quote, Mexicans

During his April 25th broadcast on his 630 AM radio show Peter Boyles directed listeners to a YouTube video (registration required because inappropriate content) featuring a guy who calls himself, interestingly enough, “The Amazing Racist.” Boyles explained that the --

I don't think we ever said any of this. Goes down -- oh, I did say this part of it: I was told goes to his truck and day labor spots and offers them, here's 50 bucks a day's work and drives them to ICE.