Loudmouth faces libel

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by Kristian Gravenor

Former CJAD open-mouth radio personality Ricky Cyr (real name Serour) and the radio station that insisted on putting him on local airwaves were slapped with a $95,000 libel suit last Friday. The plaintiff is Peggy Sheppard, a former director of admissions at McGill University who has been in the news after launching a $1.4-million lawsuit against her former employer for an alleged wrongful dismissal in 1996. Sheppard has suggested that McGill fired her for refusing to cooperate in a scheme that allowed the children of wealthy and powerful figures to enter the university while poorer, worthier applicants were refused.

Sheppard's ongoing case against McGill prompted the radio talk show host to denounce her on March 7, 2000 as a "wack job" and a "bleeding heart do-gooder" who "needs to get herself a reality check." Cyr went on to call her a "rotten apple" who "seeks to line her pockets with all this money" and who "gets to tarnish the name of a perfectly good university." Cyr also welcomed a caller named Frank who made allegations of sexual misconduct against Sheppard.

Amazingly, Cyr was subsequently hired at a radio chain Talk America for what he boasted was "a six-figure salary." Last fall, Cyr, unhappy with his paycheques, or lack thereof, confronted his Talk America boss on the air without warning him that the conversation was being broadcast. That's a no-no, according to the FCC. The Ville St-Laurent resident was fired and hasn't been heard on radio since.