{"id":9251,"date":"2015-10-28T06:00:42","date_gmt":"2015-10-28T11:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=9251"},"modified":"2015-10-28T08:13:52","modified_gmt":"2015-10-28T13:13:52","slug":"wgns-justin-kaufmann-acknowledges-lapse-in-judgment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2015\/10\/28\/wgns-justin-kaufmann-acknowledges-lapse-in-judgment\/","title":{"rendered":"WGN\u2019s Justin Kaufmann acknowledges \u2018lapse in judgment\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Justin<\/a>

<\/a> Justin Kaufmann<\/p><\/div>\n

Justin Kaufmann, the WGN AM 720<\/a> evening host who\u2019s been off the air while dealing with what he called \u201ca private and personal matter,\u201d<\/a> released a statement Tuesday that appears to pave the way for his return.<\/p>\n

In an open letter to friends and family, Kaufmann apologized for a \u201clapse in judgment\u201d in his personal life. \u201cI made a mistake,\u201d he wrote. \u201cAs a husband, I let my wife and my family down. And I will also tell you that this issue is between me and my wife.\u201d<\/p>\n

The reason he\u2019s been off the air since October 6, Kaufmann wrote, is that \u201can individual tried to take advantage of my private situation and make it public.\u201d<\/p>\n

No word yet on when Kaufmann will be back on the Tribune Media news\/talk station, but the timing of his statement suggests it will be soon. Several part-time hosts have been filling in for him on \"The Download\" from 7 to 11 p.m. weeknights.<\/p>\n

Kaufmann declined further comment, but sources said nothing that he did was illegal and no one else connected with the station was involved in the matter.<\/p>\n

Kaufmann, 41, joined WGN last April after 21 years as a producer at Chicago Public Media WBEZ FM 91.5.<\/a> A northwest suburban Chicago native and Columbia College graduate, Kaufmann also is the founder of Schadenfreude,<\/a> the Chicago comedy ensemble.<\/p>\n

Here is the complete text of Kaufmann\u2019s statement:<\/strong><\/p>\n

To my friends and family:\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

If you know me, you know that I have been out for a bit. I feel that I owe you guys an explanation.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

So here's what I will tell you. I made a mistake. As a husband, I let my wife and my family down. And I will also tell you that this issue is between me and my wife.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Also please know that my lapse in judgment was not the reason I have been off the air. The fact that an individual tried to take advantage of my private situation, and make it public, was.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

That's the consequence of a bad decision in the first place. And for that I apologize.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I'm grateful to friends who reached out and for the outpouring of support for me and my family.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Thank you for that, and for respecting a very private matter between me and my wife.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Sincerely,\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Justin<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Justin Kaufmann, the WGN AM 720 evening host who\u2019s been off the air while dealing with what he called \u201ca private and personal matter,\u201d released a statement Tuesday that appears to pave the way for his return. In an open letter to friends and family, Kaufmann apologized for a \u201clapse in judgment\u201d in his personal... Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9251"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9251"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9256,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9251\/revisions\/9256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}