Updated at 11:10am ET
In September 2019, iHeartMedia welcomed him as Market President for its Madison, Wisc., station group. For the previous two decades, he was a manager at such companies as Sony, Lucent, Qello Media and Qello Concerts.
By April 2021, he had earned a big promotion, and as Market President for iHeart’s Atlanta station group announced a multi-year commitment to Atlanta-based Operation HOPE in support of their national 1 Million Black Business Initiative (1MBB), which aims to create a million new black businesses by 2030.
Today, he’s out of the job.
And, it has to do with a video that has surfaced of this local leader using the word “n****r” in the presence of other iHeartMedia/Atlanta employees, including an African American.
The individual at the center of the dismissal is Drew Lauter, WSB-2, Cox Media Group’s flagship TV station in Atlanta, reported on Thursday evening.
A spokesperson for iHeartMedia confirmed to WSB Investigative Reporter Ashli Lincoln on Thursday that Lauter is no longer employed by the company. Why? As anchor Jorge Estevez told viewers Lauter repeatedly used racial slurs and misogynistic language in a video surfaced. It was taken from a smartphone while seated in the back seat in a ride-share vehicle.
WSB-2’s Lincoln learned of the video after she claims iHeartMedia did not initially take any action against Lauter, based on an employee’s account of the incident shared with their attorney.
However, iHeartMedia disputes this. In a statement provided to RBR+TVBR, a company spokesperson said, “As soon as this was brought to our attention we acted quickly — promptly retaining an outside investigator to conduct a thorough review. As soon as we received those findings we took immediate action.”
The video, shared by WSB-2, shows Lauter suggesting, even if in jest, that “n****rs” get run over. The person who shot the video, who is an African American iHeartMedia employee, hired attorney Jason Castle to escalate the incident, which WSB-2 says took place following a charity event; Lauter appeared “under investigation.”
In a statement provided to WSB-2, the iHeartMedia spokesperson said, “Allegations of this nature go against our company values and our policies and we take them very seriously.”
Legal action is being considered by the unnamed African American iHeartMedia/Atlanta employee, Lincoln reports.
