To: Sal Resendez, Media Relations, SiriusXM and Andrew Fitzpatrick, Sports Media Relations, SiriusXM
SiriusXM: Stop ignoring us! Fire Babchik NOW!
18MillionRising
SiriusXM can no longer hide the bigotry of its staff. We demand that SiriusXM fire Mike Babchik for his blatant deception, sexism, and racism at New York Comic Con.
Why is this important?
In mid-October at New York Comic Con, Mike Babchik and his friends snuck in with SiriusXM credentials (where Babchik is producer and on-air personality on the Mad Dog Sports Radio show) to racially and sexually harass other attendees. Claiming to lead a film crew for a television show, Babchik approached women with “interview” techniques that included making statements like, “I want to buy an umbrella [that comes] with an Asian girl.” And, “... In my experience, girls who stand next to me longer than 20 seconds get a cream pie.” It was shocking, abusive, and disgusting.
It would be bad enough if Babchik was just a regular conference-goer behaving badly, but the fact that he presented himself as a SiriusXM employee is beyond the pale. No company -- especially Sirius, which touts lineups of progressive musicians and media icons like Oprah Winfrey and Bruce Springsteen -- should tolerate this kind of behavior from its staff.
Making matters worse, all efforts from subscribers and members of the public to get a response from SiriusXM about Babchik have been met with silence. Emails, phone calls, tweets, and Facebook posts continue to remain unanswered. In fact, several people have posted to SiriusXM’s Facebook page only to discover later that their comments have been hidden or deleted.
We demand that SiriusXM stop ignoring us and take immediate action and fire Babchik.
The minute Babchik used his Sirius credentials to allow him to harass people, he acted on behalf of the company. Firing him sends a powerful message that no one can act so horribly and still expect to have a job the next day.
It would be bad enough if Babchik was just a regular conference-goer behaving badly, but the fact that he presented himself as a SiriusXM employee is beyond the pale. No company -- especially Sirius, which touts lineups of progressive musicians and media icons like Oprah Winfrey and Bruce Springsteen -- should tolerate this kind of behavior from its staff.
Making matters worse, all efforts from subscribers and members of the public to get a response from SiriusXM about Babchik have been met with silence. Emails, phone calls, tweets, and Facebook posts continue to remain unanswered. In fact, several people have posted to SiriusXM’s Facebook page only to discover later that their comments have been hidden or deleted.
We demand that SiriusXM stop ignoring us and take immediate action and fire Babchik.
The minute Babchik used his Sirius credentials to allow him to harass people, he acted on behalf of the company. Firing him sends a powerful message that no one can act so horribly and still expect to have a job the next day.