Dean Blundell apologizes for the whole “maybe causing a mistrial” thing
On Monday we found out that Dean Blundell, host of The Edge 102.1‘s morning show, may have jeopardized a sexual assault conviction by joking about courtroom proceedings with his producer Derek Welsman—who was, somewhat unbelievably, the foreman of the jury. That’s right: a person responsible for deciding the fate of the accused—a man named Joshua Dowholis, who allegedly assaulted men he met at a downtown bathhouse—was making prison-rape jokes with Blundell during his time away from the jury box. Welsman even discussed the jury’s deliberations, which is against the law. The September broadcasts were an ugly moment for Blundell, and for radio in general. Somewhere, Ira Glass shed a single tear.
Today, an audio apology appeared on The Edge’s website. In the 30-second clip, a sombre-sounding Blundell says: “I need to be serious for a minute. On this show we regularly have pretty crass conversations. Recently we crossed the line. My producer Derek Welsman and I had a discussion about a sexual assault trial on-air. We both made rude, homophobic and inappropriate remarks, which were offensive and unacceptable. We offended a lot listeners, our families and our friends. We strive to do our best every day to entertain you, our listeners. Those conversations were not entertaining. They were plain and simply wrong. For this, I sincerely apologize, and I’m truly sorry.”
Because this is radio, we have no way of knowing if a Corus Entertainment executive extracted all of that at knifepoint. Regardless, it’s a good apology. The Star reported on Tuesday that Welsman hasn’t been charged with any crimes, nor will he face a judicial inquiry. Dowholis awaits sentencing in January.
