Jeffrey Mezger, the chief executive of KB Home, one of largest homebuilders in the United States, was captured on audio Saturday night yelling at his neighbour, comedian Kathy Griffin, using a series of sexist and homophobic slurs.

The crude comments prompted an immediate backlash against Mezger, whose company is the sixth-largest publicly traded homebuilder in the country, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

Criticism quickly followed the publication of Mezger’s recorded rant Tuesday. Suze Orman, the former CNBC host, expressed disgust at the idea of buying a property from KB Home. “You really want to buy a home from this man?” she wrote on Twitter. “Beyond Disgusting!”

The episode was apparently the culmination of a series of disputes involving Mezger, Griffin and Griffin’s boyfriend, Randy Bick, who are neighbours in an exclusive gated community in the upscale Bel Air neighbourhood of Los Angeles.

The couple called the police Saturday night to complain of noise coming from Mezger’s backyard, according to HuffPost, which published the recording. Mezger’s tirade, which was recorded by security cameras at Griffin’s home, began once officers arrived.

Evidently angry that law enforcement was summoned at 9 p.m. to a gathering that included his three young grandchildren, their mother and his wife, Mezger can be heard referring to Griffin in derogatory terms, including a crude reference to the female anatomy and a disparaging term for lesbians.

Mezger also referred to Griffin’s shaved head, meant to show support for her sister, Joyce, a cancer patient who died Thursday, according to a Twitter post from the comedian.

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