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Dean Blundell is a former Canadian radio personality. Best known as a longtime "
shock jock A shock jock is a radio broadcaster or DJ who entertains listeners and attracts attention using humor or melodramatic exaggeration that may offend some portion of the listening audience. The term is used pejoratively to describe provocative or ...
" morning host on
CFNY-FM CFNY-FM (102.1 Hertz, MHz, "102.1 The Edge") is a radio station city of license, licensed to Brampton, Ontario. Owned by Corus Entertainment, the station broadcasts a modern rock format serving the Greater Toronto Area. Its studios are in Downtow ...
(The Edge) in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
,
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
,"Dean Blundell to hit the airwaves for first time since ouster from 102.1 The Edge"
''
The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...
'', May 21, 2014.
in 2015 he was named the new morning host on sports radio station
CJCL CJCL (590 AM, ''Sportsnet 590 The Fan'') is a Canadian sports radio station in Toronto, Ontario. Owned and operated by Rogers Radio, a division of Rogers Sports & Media since 2002, CJCL's studios are located at the Rogers Building at Bloor ...
(Sportsnet 590 The Fan)."Dean Blundell takes over morning show on Sportsnet 590 The Fan"
''
Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...
'', January 20, 2015.
His show on Sportsnet was cancelled in February 2017."Dean Blundell axed in 590 The FAN morning show reboot"
''
Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...
'', February 8, 2017.
Blundell worked for CJOK-FM in
Fort McMurray Fort McMurray ( ) is an urban service area in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in Alberta, Canada. It is located in northeast Alberta, in the middle of the Athabasca oil sands, surrounded by boreal forest. It has played a significa ...
and
CIMX-FM CIMX-FM (88.7 MHz, '' Pure Country 89'') is a commercial radio station in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It primarily serves Essex County, but has a signal that reaches the entire Detroit-Windsor metropolitan area. It is owned by Bell Media and airs ...
in Windsor, Ontario before joining CFNY in 2001. His self-titled show on CFNY debuted soon after
Corus Entertainment Corus Entertainment Inc. (often simply known as Corus) is a Canadian mass media and television production company. The company was founded in 1987 as Shaw Radio Ltd. as a subsidiary of Shaw Communications and was spun-off from Shaw in 1999. It h ...
reassigned his longtime predecessors Humble and Fred to talk radio sister station CFMJ.


''The Dean Blundell Show''

During Blundell's stint on CFNY, his program frequently faced complaints to the
Canadian Broadcast Standards Council The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) is an industry funded self-regulating organization created by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters to administer standards established by its own members, Canada's private broadcasters. The co ...
regarding offensive content. These included complaints about sexually explicit discussion, vulgar terminology used in a comment on the sexuality of
Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...
, derogatory comments about women, and comments that appeared to support
violence against women Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence (GBV) or sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), violent, violence primarily committed by Man, men or boys against woman, women or girls. Such violence is often considered hat ...
. The program received a one-day suspension following a 2004 appearance by '' Jackass'' cast member
Steve-O Stephen Gilchrist Glover (born June 13, 1974), known professionally as Steve-O, is an American stunt performer, comedian, media personality, and podcast host. His career is mostly centered on his shocking and pain-inducing stunts in the realit ...
, in which Steve-O urinated on the studio floor, used several profanities, and performed a stunt that involved wrapping
duct tape Duct tape or duck tape is cloth- or scrim-backed pressure-sensitive tape, often coated with polyethylene. A variety of constructions exist using different backings and adhesives, and the term "duct tape" has been genericized to refer to all o ...
around his penis. In 2009, he was sued for defamation by Linda Jackson, the mayor of the Toronto suburb of
Vaughan Vaughan ( ) (2022 population 344,412) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increa ...
, after reportedly calling her a "fraudster" and a "fat pig" on the air. In 2011, he granted an interview to Shirley Phelps-Roper in exchange for the
Westboro Baptist Church The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) is an American unaffiliated Primitive Baptists, Primitive Baptist church in Topeka, Kansas, that was founded in 1955 by pastor Fred Phelps. It is widely considered a hate group and a cult, and is known for Prot ...
dropping its controversial plan to picket the funeral of
2011 Tucson shooting On January 8, 2011, United States Representative Gabby Giffords and 18 others were shot during a constituent meeting held in a supermarket parking lot in Casas Adobes, Arizona, in the Tucson metropolitan area. Six people were killed, inclu ...
victim Christina Taylor Green. In 2013, he was widely criticized for comments that appeared to mock the death of hockey player Kristiāns Pelšs, suggesting that Pelšs (whose death was accidental) had committed
suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...
because that was preferable to living in
Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...
. Through 2012 and 2013, Blundell's show was the subject of nine separate complaints to the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council,"The second coming of Dean Blundell"
''
The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...
'', May 16, 2014.
and was formally censured six times. Blundell was indefinitely suspended from CFNY in December 2013, following reports that he and cohost Derek Welsman had discussed on the air a
jury trial A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or findings of fact. It is distinguished from a bench trial, in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions. Jury trials are increasingly used ...
in which Welsman was the foreman."Jury foreman's jokes spark call for judicial review: Radio producer joins in mocking gays on broadcast after accused is convicted of sex assault of three men". ''
Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...
'', December 8, 2013.
The trial concerned a
sexual assault Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally Physical intimacy, sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or Coercion, coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their w ...
charge against a client of a
gay bathhouse A gay bathhouse, also known as a gay sauna or a gay steambath, is a public bath targeted towards Gay men, gay and Bisexuality, bisexual men. In gay slang, a bathhouse may be called just "the baths", "the sauna", or "the tubs". Historically, they ...
, and Blundell and Welsman's commentary about it was criticized both for
homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...
and for potentially causing a
mistrial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, ...
by publicly discussing the jury deliberations. The program's cancellation was announced in January 2014.


Subsequent career

Following his departure from CFNY, Blundell launched a
podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...
, and announced plans to launch his own
Internet radio Internet radio, also known as online radio, web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio and IP radio, is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not ...
stream. He guest hosted an episode of Fan 590's ''Jeff Blair Show'' in May 2014 and was named to the station's permanent new lineup in 2015.
Rogers Radio Rogers Radio is a division of Rogers Sports & Media (a subsidiary of Rogers Communications) that specializes in the radio broadcasting industry. Rogers Radio is Canada's fourth-largest commercial radio broadcaster after Stingray Radio, Vista Ra ...
executive Scott Moore expressed confidence that Blundell's controversial history would not detract from the station's brand, noting that "He knows that this is a very different show. His mandate at the Edge was to be edgy and he knows a) that's not what we’re asking for and b) it would be unacceptable." He was dropped from Fan 590 in February 2017. Blundell said in 2018 that he regretted the on-air controversies from his show on
CFNY-FM CFNY-FM (102.1 Hertz, MHz, "102.1 The Edge") is a radio station city of license, licensed to Brampton, Ontario. Owned by Corus Entertainment, the station broadcasts a modern rock format serving the Greater Toronto Area. Its studios are in Downtow ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blundell, Dean Shock jocks Living people Canadian sports talk radio hosts Year of birth missing (living people)