SHOCKED JOCK

     By now, I'm sure we've all heard the story about how Anthony Cumia of the popular SiriusXM show "Opie and Anthony" was fired from the show right before Fourth of July weekend for posting some pretty racist Tweets on Twitter about a black woman who punched him in the face in Times Square. For those of you who live under a rock and have no clue who "Opie and Anthony" are, they're an extremely popular radio show, who at one time gave the Great Howard Stern a run for his money as far as radio shock jocks go. It was O and A who coined the phrase "Whip 'Em Out Wednesday" or simply seen on bumper stickers as "W.O.W." Yes, I know that you've seen them on cars, but probably never knew what those stickers meant. Well, back when O and A were making their bones in NYC back when I was still at Z100, they ran this campaign on Wednesdays where if women saw these bumper stickers on cars, they were urged to lift their tops and show the bearer of the sticker their boobs. Those were some great days! I've never seen so many boobs in my life until that time period and I never even had a sticker!

     Anyway, today, Anthony, after two decades on the air and three firings (oh yeah, he was also fired in Boston for running an April Fool's Day joke saying that the mayor of Boston was dead.), says he's going off the airwaves for good after his recent SiriusXM firing. Anthony was fired on Friday from SiriusXM for a series of racially charged tweets. He says that he plans on doing a live podcast-style broadcast from Long Island home studio. One source said that Anthony is pretty much "history as far as any corporate-owned media are concerned."

     Cumia, who is 53, would most likely recruit many of the comic regulars featured on the O and A show like Jimmy Norton, Bill Burr, Jim Florentine, and Nick DPaolo, just to name a few. Though, Anthony has decided to flip the dial on his career, rabid fans of the O and A show have launched an online petition demanding that Anthony be re-instated on the show. Nearly 4,000 supporters, many whom are threatening to cancel their subscription, backed Cumia after he was axed for the Twitter tirade, which was deemed as "hate-filled" by his former employer. In the petition, it was stated, "A member of your staff should not lose their job for exercising their First Amendment right to free speech. You should be ashamed of your actions."

      The $3-million-a-year co-host launched his Twitter offensive early Wednesday after asserting that he was punched in the face by a black woman in Times Square while he was trying to take a picture of the touristy NYC hot spot. Anthony ripped into the woman calling her a "c**t" and a "savage" and expressed his desire for someone to shoot her. He also Tweeted, "It's really open season on white people in this day and age. No recourse. Fight back and you're a racist." The tweets were deleted this weekend after his firing was announced. 

     Here's what I  have to say about this situation after being in radio for 13 years: Anthony, you're a public figure, bro! Though, I might agree with the way you felt at the moment because you got clocked by a black woman for no reason at all, but taking it to Twitter was not a smart move because you have so many people watching you. You might not have been an A-list celebrity, but you're a celebrity nonetheless and one of my radio heroes. Yes, I do agree that your First Amendment rights were taken from you, but come on! When you're in the public eye, you really need to watch what you say on sites like Twitter and Facebook. On the bright side, you might be better off out of corporate America and doing your own thing and being your own boss. Your followers will follow you to your podcast, so you're off to a pretty good head start. As for that black woman, you're right! Something bad should happen to her. She can't just go around punching people because they take pictures in Times Square! It's Times Square! That's what tourists do!