The comments were made during Savage's July 5 broadcast when the broadcaster told a homosexual caller to the show that he should "get AIDS and die," and suggesting the caller "eat a sausage and choke on it - get trichinosis."
"His comments were extremely inappropriate," said MSNBC spokesman Jeremy Gaines, who described the decision to fire Savage as "an easy one."
In a statement on his Internet website, Savage said he was pulled into the exchange by a "vicious setup caller," who changed the topic of the discussion that was being broadcast at the time.
"Out of nowhere a crank caller from a competitive talk show went from describing his airline horror story to making vicious personal attacks against me," said Savage in a statement. "I signaled and thought that this crank caller was cut from the air. His insults continued in my ear piece and I reacted to him personally as an individual who was attacking me to defend myself."
Savage's statement included an apology in which he said, "I certainly did not intend for this to happen and apologize for any such reaction."
The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), a homosexual advocacy group that has been critical of Savage in the past, applauded MSNBC's firing of Savage and the cancellation of his show, calling his remarks a "vicious, homophobic attack."
"MSNBC has now found itself broadcasting exactly the kind of verbal assaults GLAAD's been warning them about for the past five months," said GLAAD News Media Director Cathy Renna. "To their credit, MSNBC and NBC News have backed up their promises to hold Savage accountable for his behavior."
Savage had been the target of a GLAAD campaign targeting commercial advertisers, seeking to have those corporations withdraw their advertising from the show, which made its debut this past spring.
GLAAD launched a similar campaign in 2000 against broadcaster Dr. Laura Schlessinger when she launched a television talk show to complement her radio program. Like the Savage effort, GLAAD's targeting of Schlessinger's show was predicated on her opposition to homosexuality.
The Schlessinger television product, which was launched Sept. 11, 2000 by Paramount Domestic Television, was cancelled less than seven months later.
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