Ebro Darden, Laura Stylez and Peter Rosenberg apologize for not coming to realization sooner about the Hot 97 commercial programming director's involvement in the 1980s murder of the black teen.
- Aug 25, 2020
AceShowbiz - "Ebro in the Morning" hosts have offered a clarification after Paddy Duke's firing from Hot 97 over his involvement in Yusuf Hawkins killing drew backlash. People are questioning how everyone in the radio station, including Ebro Darden, Laura Stylez and Peter Rosenberg, was not aware of the accusations against Paddy any sooner.
On Monday, August 24, the three "Ebro in the Morning" co-hosts addressed the controversy on their radio show. Ebro started out by saying, "Corporate started to go to work to find out who knew what, when Paddy was hired and what was going to be the response because this wasn't going to be allowed to fly." He added, "The realization is that this couldn't be swept under the rug, obviously, so he's been fired."
Laura claimed that the staff might be not aware of Paddy's involvement in the case because they only knew him as Paddy Duke without knowing his real name, Pasquale Raucci. Ebro admitted that he was aware of Paddy's connection to the case, but he chose to believe Paddy.
"He told me that he got swept up in the Yusuf Hawkins situation. He also told me he didn't have nothing to do with it," Ebro shared. "This was-it had to have been more than 8, 10 years ago. I didn't know that he had a misdemeanor 'cause he did get charged with a misdemeanor and I didn't know that his record had been expunged."
He went on explaining, "Based on what I know about the NYPD, neighborhoods getting swept up around a murder, that's normal procedure, especially in the late 80s and 90s. If you was outside, if you were near the park, if you were anywhere around, you were getting swept up. And what am I going to say to a guy I work with? I don't believe you?"
Still, Ebro apologized for the upset they have caused with Paddy's presence. "On behalf of our team at 'Ebro in the Morning', we apologize that this is evening happening," he said. "It was out of our control but we apologize and we're here now. We've inherited something that we have to, as a team, deal with the brunt of."
Paddy was a longtime staffer on Hot 97. He was hired by the radio station's parent company in 1994 and eventually became its commercial programming director.
Paddy's criminal past was uncovered after HBO aired documentary "Yusuf Hawkins: Storm Over Brooklyn" that goes into details of the 1989 shooting of the 16-year-old black teen. Eight white men, including Paddy, were charged in relation to the killing.
According to the New York Times, Paddy "was convicted of three counts of unlawful imprisonment, but these felony convictions were dropped by the judge, who sentenced him to probation and community service for possession of a bat as a weapon." He was cleared on the murder charges.
After learning of his involvement in the case, Hot 97 released a statement on Monday which read, "After watching HBO's 'Storm Over Brooklyn', Hot 97 was shocked and took swift action. Paddy Duke is no longer employed by Hot 97."
