Breaking news: BPM Sports has decided to suspend (indefinitely, I’m told) Martin Lemay. The announcement was made on-air by Alexandre Panneton, the station’s CEO, at the start of Le Retour des Sportifs.
Martin Lemay was not at the helm of the return show today, so Alexandre Panneton confirmed, without saying so, that Martin Lemay was at least indefinitely suspended. Whether or not this suspension will result in dismissal remains to be seen. We shall see.
In the meantime, Greg Lanctot has been given the mandate to host the comeback show, having already been scheduled to go on air in that time slot in mid-June for the summer line-up.
Why was Martin Lemay suspended? Because he made unacceptable comments on air yesterday, while discussing CF Montréal. What did he say? Martin refused to blame Joey Saputo for the Montreal CF’s current difficulties (Mathieu Choinière, Olivier Renard, etc.), saying he didn’t want to see his tank explode. Some people saw it as nothing less than a racist comment.
You can hear Martin Lemay’s comments at the very beginning of the full version of yesterday’s show HERE.
Alexandre Panneton sincerely apologized to listeners and to CF Montréal directly. Martin Lemay is now the subject of internal measures. According to the station’s CEO, there was no outside interference in the process of suspending Martin Lemay.
It will be interesting to see what RDS decides to do with the host of the On jase podcast.
Note that since the start of the radio season, BPM Sports has changed its morning show (Paul Houde’s departure), its mid-morning show (Max Lalonde’s move and Max Van Houtte’s return) and now its comeback show. Only the noon slot has not changed.