John Derringer
John Derringer (born John Hayes[citation needed]) is a radio personality for CILQ-FM (Q107) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Derringer lives in nearby King City. He hosts a weekday morning show, Derringer In The Morning. Derringer's opinions also appeared in the form of a regular column in the Toronto Sun. As of 2007, Derringer has been named "Radio Personality of the Year" by Canada Music Week nine times, and has been named "Favourite Toronto Radio Personality" by the Sun, Eye Weekly, "Now Magazine" and Top Choice Awards.[1]
History
Derringer started as an operator in 1979 at CFTR (AM) in Toronto, followed by on-air work at CKJD Sarnia, CFGO Ottawa and K97 Edmonton. He joined Q107 for the first time in 1984 and stayed until 1993. From 1993-1995 he was the morning host at CHOM-FM Montreal. He went on to host Jock and Roll, a 90-second segment which featured a pre-recorded interview with an athlete or a rock musician. Jock and Roll was syndicated to more than 20 radio stations across Canada. In 1995, he took over Bob McCown's morning show at Toronto's sports radio station The Fan 590. For almost 5 years he hosted the Fan morning show with Pat Marsden.
Derringer returned to CILQ-FM in 2000, replacing Howard Stern as the morning host.[1] For a short time he supplemented his duties with an afternoon show for brother station CFMJ (Mojo Radio).
Philanthropy
In 2004, Derringer launched an all-day fundraising drive to benefit the family of Louise Russo, a 45-year-old mother of three who was hit by a stray bullet while ordering a sandwich at a Toronto restaurant on April 21, 2003. The bullet shattered her spine, leaving her paralyzed. The station raised CDN$218,000 for the family.[2]
Every year Derringer, a motorcycle enthusiast, leads "The B.A.D. Ride", a charity ride for the benefit of the Distress Centres of Toronto.[3]
Derringer spearheads the "13 Days of Christmas" fundraising campaign, which has raised almost $4 million for The Martin Kruze Memorial Fund and the Canadian Centre For Abuse Awareness.
Controversy
In 2007, former Toronto Maple Leafs player Tie Domi filed a defamation lawsuit against Derringer and Q107, seeking $950,000 in damages.[4] The suit claims that in a broadcast on October 2, 2006, Derringer falsely said that Domi charges fees to appear for charities. Derringer denies making the statement attributed to him in the suit. As of 2009 there has been no outcome in this case.
In 2003, Justice Richard Schneider of the Ontario Court of Justice filed a lawsuit against Derringer seeking $3 million in damages for libel.[5] On the May 29, 2003 episode of Tool of the Day, Derringer criticized the Judge's ruling in a child pornography case involving a 20-year-old man. Justice Schneider sentenced the man to 9 months house arrest, with no jail time, a sentence Derringer declared too lenient. Derringer called Justice Schneider a "supposed Judge", and a "disgrace to our justice system".[6] He went on to say sterner penalties for child pornography would not come about until "a Justice like [Judge Schneider] is gonna have evidence brought into court in a case like that of Yong Jun Kim, and it’s gonna be his kid being forced to perform fellatio on a man and sent around the world on the Internet."[6] The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) ruled that Derringer "made improper personal attacks on the judge," and that "[the] Derringer commentary also sanctioned or promoted possible personal attacks on the children of the judge." [6]
In response to the lawsuit and a complaint lodged with the CBSC by Justice Schneider's ex-wife, the radio station acknowledged Schneider's concerns while defending Derringer's actions as "without actual malice".[5] In a letter to Schneider, CILQ-FM stated that "the Program, like many radio shows, can sometimes be controversial in nature and not for everyone's taste. However, many of Q107's core audience, which is mainly adults in the 25-54 year old age group, in particular, men, find the Program humorous [sic]."[6] Derringer issued an on-air apology and, following the CBSC's ruling, the station was required to broadcast a series of announcements regarding the contentious statements.
Derringer was criticised for supporting the Ontario chapters of the Hells Angels in an August 31, 2005 column for The Toronto Sun. In it, he dismissed recent media reports about the Hell's Angels as "filled with innuendo, lies, half-truths and complete fabrications."[7]
References
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