The local conservative radio station KNUS has canceled the Chuck and Julie Show after one of its hosts wished for a school shooting on the air Tuesday.
Chuck Bonniwell said news of a “nice school shooting” would break up nonstop coverage of President Donald Trump's impeachment. His wife and co-host Julie Hayden immediately told him not to say that.
Wednesday evening, KNUS announced it had canceled the show.
Now there are hundreds of people on Twitter demanding the station fire Bonniwell.
KNUS has not said whether it plans to fire him. The station did not return multiple calls, emails and messages. Bonniwell also didn’t return requests for comment, but the show’s Twitter account posted a thread addressing the controversy.
In a now-deleted tweet, the account also tweeted that the comment was meant as a joke.
Bonniwell has a history of controversial takes, mostly through his newspaper, the Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle.
Bonniwell and Hayden started hosting their weekday afternoon show in July 2017. Hayden, a former reporter, has covered multiple school shootings, including at Columbine in 1999.
KNUS has recently made headlines too. Last month the station fired another one of its hosts — Craig Silverman. Silverman said he was pulled off the air for criticizing President Donald Trump at the conservative station. Station leadership denied that, saying he was fired over a programming disagreement.
Colorado has had many school shootings over the years, including the Columbine High School shooting and the STEM School Highlands Ranch shooting earlier this year.
