TV Host’s Controversy Haunts Show’s Guest : June Caine Miller Injects Racial Comments Into KDOC Interview With Fullerton Singer

To David Lee Porter, it seemed like a big break. Maybe it wasn’t Johnny Carson, but an appearance on June Cain Miller’s TV talk show--even if it airs at 12:30 a.m. on KDOC in Orange County--would give the 24-year-old musician from Fullerton some badly needed exposure.

He never imagined that the March 7 episode would be marred by racial comments that recalled Al Campanis’ infamous remarks on Ted Koppel’s “Nightline” last year.

In this case, though, it was the talk-show host, and not the guest, who made the comments. Porter was a gracious guest, politely explaining the ups and downs of his young career and the inspiration for his music. He sang an innocuous little tune with a reggae beat called “Journey Home” and danced a jig with Miller.

But Miller, on three separate occasions, injected the issue of race into a conversation about the difficulties of launching a career in the entertainment business. She suggested that many blacks, including talk-show host Oprah Winfrey, would not be so successful were it not for their race.

An NAACP official in Los Angeles said his office has received about two dozen complaints from viewers, but he said the organization would wait to see if Miller apologizes before taking any action.

Shocked and Dismayed

“I was kind of shocked and dismayed that (she) of all people would make such a statement,” said Willis Edwards, president of the Beverly Hills-Hollywood chapter of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People. The chapter monitors the entertainment industry. “I’ve always thought of her as a fair host.”

Edwards said the chapter’s executive committee will meet next week to view the program and discuss what steps it might take against Miller. Those might include filing a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission, Edwards said.

Porter, who is white, said he and his record company, Catalina Records, have received eight complaints about the show. KDOC general manager Calvin Brock said he knew of just one complaint the station had received.

For her part, Miller said she has heard no criticism “at all” about the program, which was taped in February.

In an interview Friday, Miller defended her remarks.

“It’s no secret, everybody talks about it,” Miller said. “Any one of the networks usually has a black weather person, or a female, or a Hispanic. We know we have to adhere to a certain amount of ethnic groups. It’s not a slanderous statement, it’s not a racial statement, it’s a statement of fact.”

The first of Miller’s comments came early in the half-hour show, when she was expounding on the “really rough time” she has had making it in the industry.

The talk show field was already crowded, she was saying, when along came “big, black and beautiful Oprah Winfrey. Now who wasn’t going to buy her show? They’d have been called a bigot. Who’s going to cancel her? They’d be called a bigot. She’s got it made.”

A few minutes later in the program, Miller asked Porter--who weighs 245 pounds--if his girth has hampered his career.

Porter answered that, while he once thought that it might, his size has not turned out to be an obstacle. “You know, it didn’t stop Oprah,” he said.

To which Miller replied: “Well, again, she was black, and you have to have a certain amount of them in there. Every, you know, anchor team has a token black . . . come in and do the weather, you know.”

At the end of the show, Miller said: “If I can help you with your moment in the sun, I’ll sit there in the sun so I can get tan. Look out Oprah, I’m getting darker.”

Porter did not respond directly to any of Miller’s racial remarks. He said noise in the Pasadena restaurant where the show was taped made it difficult for him to hear exactly what she was saying.

“It just didn’t register,” said Porter, who included a song about apartheid (“So Strong”) on his debut album. “If I had understood exactly what she had said, I would have called her on it.”

Porter said that he and his manager were “shocked” when they watched a tape of the show and have been busy trying to disassociate themselves from Miller’s remarks since then. Miller has not responded to their request to edit the statements out of the program, Porter said.

“I’ve got a record I’m trying to push to people all across the board,” Porter said. “You can’t offend people like that . . . besides the fact that it’s morally wrong.”

Campanis’ remarks on national TV in 1987--on a show marking the 40th anniversary of the integration of baseball by Jackie Robinson--caused a national uproar and led to his dismissal from his post as vice president for player personnel with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Campanis was attacked for his remarks about whether blacks were qualified for management positions in baseball and his observations about blacks’ athletic abilities, compared to whites.

Not Seen Tape

KDOC manager Brock said he had not yet reviewed a tape of Miller’s program but planned to do so over the weekend. “I don’t make any decisions until I review it with my own two eyes,” he said.

In general, Miller “does a very good job,” Brock said. “She’s energetic, she covers a lot of different topics that are critical . . . not only locally, but nationally and internationally.”

Two of Miller’s recent programs dealt with tap-dancing and dating, the latter of which included a discussion of whether a woman calling a man for a date conflicted with traditional Christian values.

Miller explained that her comment about tokenism on TV news shows should be understood as a call to place minorities in more prominent positions rather than filling a quota with a token weatherman.

“I think they (minorities) should get more recognizable positions,” Miller said. “I happen to think people get put on as a token. There’s a lot of talent” out there.

Miller said that minorities would have “complete representation” when networks recognize “gray-haired grandmothers” like herself. Miller, who lives in La Canada, is 58 and has five grandchildren.

“Anybody who knows me knows, you’ll pardon the quote, but many of my friends are black,” she said.

‘Less Offensive’

The talk-show host said that her comments about Oprah Winfrey were “less offensive” than remarks she has heard Winfrey make about herself. “You should have heard her at (state) Sen. (William) Campbell’s conference on women,” Miller said. “She talked about her nappy hair.”

Miller said she harbors no resentment toward the more successful Winfrey.

“I happen to think Oprah is excellent; she’s good at what she does, she’s gorgeous,” Miller said. “If anything, I think I would look to her as a mentor, even though she’s younger.”

But Miller repeated her contention that Winfrey’s career as a talk-show host has been made easier by virtue of her being black. “She got in faster . . . absolutely,” she said.

Miller said she is not out to attack anybody.

“I’m warm, I’m sincere, I’m honest, I’m fair,” she said. “If I said it, I said it. I know what I meant.”