Jamil Jivani, who disappeared from Newstalk 1010 (CFRB-AM) Toronto airwaves late last year without explanation, is breaking his silence on what led up to his departure from Bell Media.
Since September 2020, Jivani – a Yale Law graduate, community advocate, and special adviser to the Ontario Premier – had been hosting an evening talk show for Newstalk 1010 that was also carried on 580 CFRA Ottawa, Newstalk 610 CKTB St. Catherine’s, and AM800 CKLW Windsor. Focused on news and current events, the show’s subject matter spanned topics from politics to social change.
Also the author of 2018 book “Why Young Men: Rage, Race and the Crisis of Identity,” Bell Media touted Jivani on its website as “focused on empowering those who have been forgotten and left behind in our country. Drawing from his own unique journey from supposed illiterate high school student to Ivy League lawyer, Jamil brings an authentic, no-nonsense voice to Canadian media.”
However in a post on his new substack site on Tuesday, entitled “Even black men can be fired for not being ‘woke’ enough,” Jivani writes while Bell Media hired him for his perspective “What my experience made clear is that the company failed to consider what it would mean to sincerely engage someone from a black community, without expectations that we conform to the pressures of tokenism.”
“Elite institutions often make assumptions about a person’s political views based on what he looks like or where his parents are from,” continued Jivani. “Soon after being hired, I could see that Bell Media/iHeartRadio erred in making the same assumptions. I felt that they were hoping to have hired a liberal stereotype of a black man who espouses their expected political talking points. Bell Media/iHeartRadio was not prepared for a black man who loves his country, rejects victimhood politics, maintains strong ties to his faith community, and shares heterodox views on a wide range of issues.”
Jivani says he was taken off the air “with a promise that we would discuss all of my concerns in the new year,” however in January he was informed he was being restructured. Jivani believes the company fabricated the restructuring narrative “to avoid confronting the reality that their vision for diversity and inclusion does not welcome black men who think for themselves.”
“I am a black man. I am also a conservative, a proud Canadian, a son to a wonderful mother, a Christian, and a lawyer. None of these elements of my identity contradict each other. But too many big corporations have decided to push a political agenda that suggests people like me either don’t exist, or should hide our authentic selves for the sake of careerism,” asserted Jivani.
Part two of the author’s five-part series will drop Monday, Feb. 7.
Jivani is one of a number of Newstalk 1010 hosts who have quietly parted ways with Bell Media over the last few months, including Ryan Doyle, formerly of afternoon drive show, The Rush with Ryan and Jay. Jay Michaels announced Friday he too is leaving the station to pursue another opportunity within Bell Media. As of this week, Jim Richards is being heard in the afternoon time slot.
Bell Media has thus far refused Broadcast Dialogue’s request for comment on the station’s evolving programming lineup.
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