Listen as ex-Michigan broadcaster launches profane off-air attack on radio show co-host

Mark Hicks
The Detroit News

A former Michigan TV broadcaster is drawing attention for leaked audio of a heated, profanity-laced exchange he had with a female colleague last week.

The recording of the off-air exchange involving Vic Faust, who left WXYZ-TV (Ch. 7) in 2015, was reported Monday by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Listen: Exchange between Vic Faust and his co-host

It reportedly unfolded Sept. 13, toward the end of "The Edge" morning show that Faust co-hosts on 100.7 The Viper, a Missouri-based FM radio station.

Vic Faust

Faust also is an anchor for a Fox affiliate in St. Louis, according to the station's website.

The outburst appears to have started after the closing minutes of the show, when co-host Crystal Cooper jokingly said Faust called her "stupid" on-air the previous day and objected to the co-host criticizing his computer skills, according to a YouTube video the radio station posted.

Faust went on to say Cooper referenced "a dumb topic," said she shouldn't be bringing up some subjects and called her a "liar" and "immature" and "stupid" several more times before the final commercial break.

In the edited clip of audio the St. Louis Post-Dispatch said was sent anonymously and recorded during the break, Faust can be heard repeatedly calling Cooper names that are bleeped out.

Throughout the nearly 5-minute argument, Faust accused Cooper of attacking him on air, referring to her as "fat" and "nasty."

When Cooper was heard telling Faust to "grow the (expletive) up" and had been "acting like an immature (expletive)," he responded: "You grow up, you fat (expletive) ... ."

Faust went on to say she was "stupid" for not speaking intelligently on topics during the show and told Cooper she shouldn't return to work. 

“If you come back, I’m going to be in your (expletive) every (expletive) day,” he was heard saying.

Cooper told Faust he was not her supervisor and she would return, according to the recording.

Faust was heard telling Cooper he would "nail your (expletive)" and "do whatever I (expletive) need to do to you" before using a string of more profanities to describe the woman.

Shortly before a co-host yelled there were 20 seconds left before the commercial break ended, Faust was heard telling Cooper: "Your kids have a (expletive) terrible mom. I feel sorry for them.”

"Wow," Cooper replied. "Wow."

Faust did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday night. Neither did Cooper or representatives for the radio station.

According to her Facebook page, Cooper stopped working for The Viper the same day as the confrontation.

Faust joined WXYZ in 2004 as a weekend sports anchor, according to Detroit News archives.

He went on to co-anchor the station's morning and noon "Action News" shows.

In early 2015, Faust announced on Facebook he would leave to take a new job in St. Louis, where he grew up.

Faust graduated from the University of Missouri, where he attended on a football scholarship then started his broadcasting career as color-commentator and pre-post game host for the Missouri Tiger Radio Network on Learfield Communications, according to his profile on the Fox website. His career included working in Missouri and Oklahoma.