‘The Georgia Gang’ panelist Phil Kent apologizes for ‘dangerous language’
Fox 5’s “The Georgia Gang” panelist Phil Kent apologized in a video posted on YouTube after using what he dubbed “dangerous language” referencing fellow panelist Tharon Johnson.
During an Aug. 23 episode of the weekly political chat show, the panelists were discussing a recent Atlanta Dream game at State Farm Arena where a security guard told a mother and daughter to cover “XX-XY” shirts that support women’s sports but which some critics see as anti-transgender. Later, both the WNBA and the Dream said the fans should not have been asked to cover their shirts.
Kent, a longtime conservative media and public relations consultant, said he supported free speech “unless the shirt says, ‘Kill Tharon Johnson.’”
Johnson, a liberal political strategist, grimaced and said, “Don’t say that Phil.”
“We don’t want shirts that advocate violence,” Kent said.
“Well, I’m glad you don’t want somebody to wear a shirt that says, ‘Kill Tharon Johnson,’” Johnson said.
Five days later, on Friday, Fox 5 anchor Russ Spencer anchored a video that the broadcast network posted on YouTube featuring an apology from Kent and comments from Johnson.
“I made a reference about violence against my colleague Tharon Johnson during this debate on free speech,” Kent said. “Regardless, stringing together words and personalizing it the way I did was unacceptable … I know if the roles were reversed, I’d be upset.”
He added that “dangerous language and references to violence have no place in the conversation.”
Johnson, in a subsequent four-minute commentary on the video, thanked everyone who reached out to him and contacted the Fox 5 station after the Aug. 23 episode aired.
He said when he heard the words “Kill Tharon Johnson,” “All I could think about was my wife, my kids and my family and I didn’t act immediately the way I reacted later because I actually had to watch the program. What you guys saw was a sort of civil and jovial conversation between me and my colleagues, but that kind of rhetoric is dangerous.”
“Even as political discourse descends into chaos and vitriol everywhere else,” Johnson continued, “we can choose to be respectful to each other at all times on this show … We can respond with kindness even when hate has become normal.”
He said he had coffee with Kent before the video apology was taped. “It was a good conversation,” Johnson said. “But you all know Phil. While we agree that it was wrong, he apologized. We did have a very nice and civil debate about how we move forward together, and I wanted to say that publicly … I look forward to being back on the program one day with Phil soon.”
The original Aug. 23 episode where Kent made that comment has removed from “The Georgia Gang” YouTube page. Several comments left on the apology video asked Fox 5 to reinstate the episode.
Kent, who has been on the show since 2003, did not return a call or text from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for comment. Johnson, in a brief interview with the AJC, said he will be back to tape a new episode this Friday. Otherwise, he said he had nothing more to add beyond his comments in the video.
Though the apology video opened “The Georgia Gang” on Sunday, Kent was not on the panel. A spokesman for Fox 5 said Kent will also not be on air this weekend. He didn’t say when Kent will return to the show.
Kent, a former Augusta Chronicle editor, is the longest-running regular panelist on “The Georgia Gang.” Johnson joined the show about a decade ago.
“The Georgia Gang” is Atlanta’s longest-running public affairs program. It began in 1981 as “Sunday News Conference” on WSB-TV and lasted six years. WATL-TV revived it in 1989, where it was renamed “The Georgia Gang.” Later it moved to WAGA, which was a CBS affiliate at the time but became a Fox affiliate in 1994.
The show, which typically tackles statewide political issues, was more pugnacious in its early days, but the goal has always been to “disagree without being disagreeable,” original “Gang” panelist Dick Williams told the AJC in 2011. He was on the show from 1981 to 2019. “We try to engage in an intelligent discussion of issues.”
None of the panelists are full-time employees at Fox 5. They are independent contractors compensated on a “per appearance” basis. The show tapes on Fridays at Fox 5 studios off Briarcliff Road and airs on Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
For decades, the regular panelists were almost exclusively journalists but in recent years, the show has brought in political strategists.
“The Georgia Gang” is led by moderator Lori Geary, a public relations specialist who joined the show as a full-time moderator in 2019 after 19 years as a reporter at Fox 5. Democratic political strategist Melita Easters joined the “Gang” as a regular in 2021. The show also features an array of rotating guest panelists.