The “Brady Bunch” star who was dismissed from a Los Angeles radio station after allegedly blasting a critic with a homophobic, hate-filled rant is speaking out about the controversy.
Susan Olsen, who played Cindy Brady, fired off at “Old Dogs & New Tricks” actor-writer Leon Acord on Facebook on Dec. 7, after Acord accused her of spreading “outrageous misinformation” on Two Chicks Talkin’ Politics, an LA Talk Radio show she co-hosted.
In one Facebook post, Olsen, 55, slammed Acord as a “little piece of human waste.” Later that day, Acord shared a screenshot of a private Facebook message that appeared to show Olsen going off on a tirade, labeling him a “pussy” and the “biggest faggot a** in the world.” By Dec. 9, LA Talk Radio announced on Facebook that it had “severed our ties with a host” because of “hateful speech,” though it did not reference Olsen by name.
On Dec. 15, Olsen spoke out about the exchange on Facebook, arguing that reports she’d been fired from her LA Talk Radio gig were misleading.
Just two minutes later, she claimed that the controversy stemmed from her being an outspoken supporter of President-elect Donald Trump in another post.
The next day, she addressed the words she’d allegedly exchanged with Acord-Whiting directly, noting that she found it “hilarious that I am being called a homophobe” in yet another Facebook post.
Just minutes after that, Olsen announced she’d be taking a “break from social media” in the wake of the controversy.
The debacle may come as a surprise to those familiar with the former child star’s history with the LGBTQ community. In 2013, she penned an open letter to her TV dad, Robert Reed, who played her father, Mike Brady. In it, she expressed her support for same-sex marriage, noting that Reed, who was reportedly gay, could “never make peace with himself” and, as a result, remained in the closet before his death in 1992.
In June, Olsen appeared alongside Florence Henderson, who played Carol Brady, at the Actors Fund’s Tony Awards viewing party in Los Angeles. Henderson, who died Nov. 24, had been an outspoken advocate of LGBTQ rights during her lifetime.
The Huffington Post has reached out to Olsen for additional comment. Meanwhile, Acord applauded LA Talk Radio for “taking quick action,” telling HuffPost that it “doesn’t really matter” whether or not Olsen is “truly homophobic.”
“The true issue is, like most Trump surrogates, she spreads dangerous misinformation, then responds unprofessionally with attacks and hate when criticized,” he said. “That makes her too irresponsible to host a radio program on politics.”
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