US CEO sees bonus pay cut after ugly rant at comedian Kathy Griffin

(MENAFN- AFP) US homebuilder KB Home cut the bonus pay of its chief executive following a sexist, expletive-filled rant against controversial comedian Kathy Griffin, the company said Thursday.

KB Homes said it was cutting Jeffrey Mezger's bonus by 25 percent after audio surfaced of the CEO behaving in an "unacceptable" fashion towards Griffin, his Los Angeles neighbor.

The company said Mezger's has a record as a "very effective" leader, but will be dismissed "if in the future there is any similar incident."

He currently "has the full and complete confidence of the Board," the company said in a securities filing. "However, Mr. Mezger's recent behavior in his personal dealings with a neighbor is unacceptable and a negative reflection on KB Home."

The move comes Mezger was captured on security tape berating Griffin and her boyfriend, Randy Bick, for calling the police to report noise during a family gathering.

In the audio, Mezger repeatedly yells "fuck you" at the couple, refers to Griffin as "you fucking cunt" and a "bald dyke" and threatens "war" on the couple.

Griffin recently shaved her head in solidarity with her sister who died of cancer last week.

In the tirade, Mezger also referred to the controversy that surrounded Griffin after she posted a photo of herself holding a fake and bloodied severed head of President Donald Trump in May.

Griffin was dropped from a New Year's Eve event on CNN and apologized for the episode, but came under intense scrutiny from Trump supporters.

She recently announced an overseas tour for her stand-up comedy routine -- which focuses largely on comic run-ins with the rich and famous -- saying it was not safe for her to perform in the US.

Metzger blamed his outburst on a series of noise complaints filed against him by Griffin and Bick, but said through a spokesman there was no excuse for his language, according to news reports on the incident.

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