‘What is This?': Radio Host Video of Latino Fest Causes Outrage

Government officials are denouncing a video made by a local radio station, showing on of its hosts making comments at the Latino Hartford Festival last week. 

In Gary Craig's video titled "Accidental Tourist at Hartford Latino Fest, the 96.5 TIC host attended the festival at the city's riverfront to "see what was going on."

Latino music was playing, people were dancing and various flags were on display when Craig arrived, prompting him to say, "I walked into some kind of parallel universe or something." 

As he continues to walk through the festival, an announcer comes on the speakers speaking Spanish, while Craig exclaims, "What? Who?"

Towards the end of the video, Craig walks in front of a vendor with a Puerto Rican flag and said now he doesn't have to take a trip to Cuba like he had been thinking about. 

After, Craig starts to sing, "I love Lucy and she loves me!". The reference is presumably from the show, "I Love Lucy", which featured the Cuban-American actor Desi Arnaz. 

Mayor Luke Bronin and other elected officials weighed in on the video on Tuesday. 

"Gary Craig's video is repulsive and bizarre," said Bronin. "CBS Local Media, the owner of 96.5 TIC FM, should get this trash off of their website."

City Council President T.J. Clarke demanded an apology, noting that Craig's comments can "no way" be justified.

"For anyone to mention they walked into some ‘parallel universe’, while people were celebrating their culture at last weeks, Latino Fest needs a quick reality check on how culturally diverse this city is," Clarke said. 

On Tuesday night, Craig and the radio station put out separate statements.

“I would like to take the time to address the video I made at last weekend’s Latino Festival. I recognize that it was a poor attempt at being humorous. It was insensitive and stupid, and I sincerely apologize," Craig wrote.

The station called Craig's video "inappropriate and was not in line" with its values.

"We are taking this matter seriously and have communicated to Gary that there is no place for this type of content on our station.”

Craig's wife Diana told NBC Connecticut that her husband had "no intention whatsover of hurting anyone."

"If you know Gary, you know that through the years he has made crank calls," Diana said. "He has made fun of different people-- that’s what he does, that is radio show. His intention was never, ever, ever to offend anyone or to hurt anyone or to be racist in any shape or form. That is not who this man is."

Diana said that her husband has bee in the Hartford market for more than 30 years and has done "amazing things" for children and families of all races, including those in the Latino community. 

"I think that what he did was a mistake," Diana said. "This society is so sensitive that someone might take it the wrong way, but I saw it and yeah, did I think it might offend someone maybe, but I think it is being a little bit blown out of proportion."

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