A Boston radio station has fired a talk show host for calling a third-party candidate for governor a fat lesbian on air.

John DePetro told the Boston Globe he was stunned by WRKO's decision to dismiss him and more upset by the station's firing his engineer. He said that was like clubbing a baby seal.

DePetro made the crack Thursday about Green-Rainbow Party candidate Grace Ross, while he was complaining to listeners that she took up too much time during a gubernatorial debate the previous night. He apologized on air Thursday and called Ross later in the day to make a personal apology.

Jason Wolfe, an executive with Entercom Enterprises, which owns WRKO, said DePetro was warned after he used a homosexual slur on air in July that any new incident would have serious consequences. DePetro was suspended for two days for using the slur to refer to Matthew Amorello, a former Massachusetts Turnpike Authority chairman.