Brother Wease

Brother Wease (born Alan Levin, November 1, 1946 in Rochester, NY) is a long-time morning radio personality in Rochester, NY at WCMF-FM 96.5. To date, Wease has sold airtime, been an overnight jock, a concert promoter and now hosts a legendary and hysterically honest morning program.

Personality

As a Vietnam veteran Brother Wease witnessed 3 tours of duty, he's emceed two Woodstocks (1994 and 1999), and performs exceptionally well as a leader in charitable fund raising through Wease Cares - a charity founded in memory of a close friend who died in 1995. Brother Wease is also known in the local community for two divorces, five kids, his tattoos, and his penchant for playing poker.

Radio Free Wease

His morning show, Radio Free Wease, always popular with the young male demographic, was known for raunchy content from time to time in the 1980s. Brother Wease attracted the notice of the radio industry in the late 1990s when he successfully fended off competition from Howard Stern's syndicated show.

In fact Wease achieved an unusual distinction with regards to Stern: he made the Stern Shit List. In Stern's Radio Show category portion of the list, Wease is regarded as an Imitator. ^*

To date the Radio Free Wease crew works as a team to comply with FCC regulations for on air content. However, in a February 26, 2004 Community Letter to Wease, Bruce E. Darling, Rochester (N.Y.) Center for Disability Rights, took Brother Wease to task for on the air comments “regarding an incident involving a woman who uses a wheelchair” and added “Your comments were offensive to our community and we ask that you apologize on the air.” Additional sampling of Wease's colorful metaphors and conservative bashing, can be found in his interview Say What? which appeared in the March 31, 2004 issue of City Newspaper, an alternative news publication in Rochester, New York. [http://rochester-citynews.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A2513

Battle with and Victory Over Cancer

Wease announced on his February 2, 2005 show that he had been diagnosed with nasopharyngeal carcinoma, a rare form of sinus cancer.Wease underwent seven weeks of radiation treatment at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, during which he intended to broadcast from a makeshift studio in his apartment for as long as he was physically capable of doing so^*.

Lawsuits

During his stint as one of Rochester's best-known morning hosts, Brother Wease faced two sexual-harassment multi-million dollar lawsuits.

Wease was sued, in the amount of $17 million, by former co-host Cindy Pierce, who said his lewd remarks about her forced her off the air. The suit was later settled out of court for an unspecified amount. [http://www.courts.state.ny.us/AD4/Court/Decisions/2004/03-19-04/PDF/0441.pdf

Wease was sued by former WCMF account executive Jodi Strada, who said Wease humiliated her by on-air sexual references. ^*

References

External links