Bay Area radio personality Michael Savage has sued the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, saying it violated his rights by wrongfully using segments of his show in a letter-writing campaign to advertisers.
In the Oct. 29 broadcast, Savage called the Muslim holy book “a throwback document” and a “book of hate,” the AP reports.
Savage — who broadcasts from the studios of KNEW 910 in San Francisco or from his home in Tiburon (pictured) — said he strongly supports freedom of speech, but “it’s another thing to take away a man’s millstone and try to put him out of business.”
A CAIR spokeswoman, Amina Rubin, called the suit, filed in federal court in San Francisco, “bizarre, sloppy and baseless.”
Bill Crawford, a spokesman for Talk Radio Network, which syndicates the Savage show, said “there have been advertisers who’ve canceled Michael’s show because of the CAIR situation.” He refused to identify the companies or reveal the amount of lost revenue. Savage said he’s lost at least $1 million in revenue. (Photo credit: John Storey, AP)