iHeartMedia-Atlanta president ‘no longer with the company’ after video shows him use racial slurs

By Andi Babineau, Melissa Alonso and Sara Turnbull, CNN

An iHeartMedia radio executive is out of a job after a video of him repeatedly using racial slurs surfaced, according to a spokesperson for the company.

iHeartMedia-Atlanta’s president Drew Lauter is “no longer with the company,” Meg Stevens, a senior vice president of programming at the company, told CNN in an email.

CNN obtained the videos from attorney Jason Castle, who represents a Black iHeart executive who was riding in the car and recorded the videos. They were taken in August 2021 while the group was leaving a local charity golf tournament, he says.

The videos show Lauter using multiple variations of the n-word and other expletives as he rides in the backseat of a vehicle.

He is also shown reaching into the front seat, grabbing the driver — a male member of iHeartMedia’s regional senior sales team — and mimicking fondling while using aggressive, offensive and sexist language. Lauter appears to be inebriated throughout the clips.

Castle told CNN by phone this sort of behavior happened “quite often” and said Lauter created an “environment rife with sexual harassment and racial discrimination.”

CNN has reached out to Lauter for comment but has not received a response.

Castle said iHeart officials was made aware of the situation last year when it happened and took no apparent action against Lauter until after the recordings were released.

In her statement to CNN, Stevens said, “We were not aware of the video (or the instance) until recently, a year after it had been recorded. … while we do not comment on personnel matters, allegations of this nature go against both our company values and our policies and we take them very seriously. As soon as they were brought to our attention we acted quickly, retaining an outside investigator to conduct a thorough review, and when we received the outside investigator’s findings, we took the appropriate course of action.”

IHeartMedia-Atlanta employees were informed of the decision Thursday.

Castle said all of the communication regarding his client and Lauter has gone through iHeartMedia’s legal team. CNN has not been able to determine whether Lauter has acquired individual representation.

iHeartMedia is the country’s largest radio corporation, with more than 860 FM and AM radio stations nationwide. They also have a hand in podcasting and internet radio.

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