DJ COMMUNITY

Hot 97 DJ Apologizes for Offending Haitians

*DJ Cipha Sounds of New York’s Hot 97 has angered local leaders and members of the Haitian community after saying on-air Friday morning, “The reason I’m HIV negative is because I don’t mess with Haitian girls.”

The jock, whose real name is Luis Diaz, immediately apologized after the station was flooded with phone calls. He was also slammed on Twitter and Facebook.

Many listeners had originally thought his co-host, Peter Rosenberg, made the remark. But Diaz, a 34-year-old Bronx native of Puerto Rican descent, admitted that it was him, according to the New York Daily News.

“I made a stupid, tasteless joke that was a one-liner that was taken totally the wrong way,” he said in an on-air apology. “I want to say sincerely that I apologize.” [Listen to apology below.]

Diaz, who also deejays parties and has hosted shows on MTV, said during his apology that he does “nothing but rep for the Haitian people.”

He continued, “I said something stupid that I’m embarrassed about.”

But the apology wasn’t enough for a coalition of Haitian community leaders planned a rally earlier today outside of the Hot 97 headquarters on Hudson Street.