New Orleans radio station accuses sports host of sending homophobic tweet directed at himself

Ryan Young
·Staff writer
Updated
WWL believes that sports talk show host Seth Dunlap, who is openly gay, sent a homophobic tweet directed at himself from the station's account earlier this month.
WWL believes that sports talk show host Seth Dunlap, who is openly gay, sent a homophobic tweet directed at himself from the station's account earlier this month. (Getty Images)

New Orleans radio station WWL filed a police report this week accusing talk show host Seth Dunlap of sending a tweet containing a homophobic slur from the station’s official account that was directed at himself, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

WWL, according to the report, also accused Dunlap of threatening them over the tweet and demanded more than $1.8 million in compensation. Dunlap has denied the accusations and passed a lie-detector test on Wednesday that determined he didn’t send the tweet or arrange for it to be sent.

The original tweet

On September 10, the official WWL Twitter account quote tweeted Dunlap and used a homophobic slur. That tweet has since been deleted, and the station both apologized and launched an investigation hours later.

Dunlap, who is openly gay, had written an open letter to Drew Brees just days prior focused on his involvement with the anti-LGBTQ group “Focus on the Family.”

The 35-year-old then took a leave of absence from the station two days later.

WWL accused Dunlap of sending the tweet himself

WWL filed its police report on Tuesday, officially accusing Dunlap of sending the tweet himself. The case has been classified as a possible extortion, which is punishable by up to 15 years in prison in Louisiana, per the report.

They also said he is facing multiple personal financial troubles, including credit card debt and personal loans.

The station, which brought in a forensic expert for its investigation, said that the tweet was sent from an IP address associated with Dunlap’s phone, per the Times-Picayune. They also said surveillance footage showed him inside his office with the door closed at the time the tweet was sent, and then showed him opening the door and walking out to show the tweet to a coworker.

Dunlap and his attorney have denied these accusations, and said that while up to 14 employees have the password to the official Twitter account, Dunlap is not one of them. He also passed the polygraph test on Wednesday, according to the Times-Picayune, which asked him if he sent the tweet or arranged for it to be sent.

His attorney, Megan Kiefer, said he plans to pursue a discrimination lawsuit against the station and its parent company. She also accused the company of using the “threat of criminal prosecution” in order to settle any potential lawsuit, and called their allegations “defamatory and self-serving.”

“It is truly reprehensible [that the station] would be attempting to blame the victim of its own anti-LGBT culture, and they are only compounding the severe damage that Mr. Dunlap has experienced at the hands of Entercom,” Kiefer said, via the Times-Picayune.

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