‘It’s Not Performance Art, You Were Pissed Off!’ WFAN Host Slams Rival ESPN Host Who Said Threat To Fire Producer Was ‘Performative’
WFAN’s Gregg Giannotti slammed ESPN Radio New York’s Michael Kay after Kay admitted that his threat to a morning show producer was “performative.”
On Friday, Kay went on a tirade after a morning show producer for ESPN Radio New York blasted The Michael Kay Show for their downward spiral in the ratings. Kay looked into the camera and said he could have the morning show’s producer, Ray Santiago, fired with just one call. On Tuesday, Kay admitted to his audience that it was all an act.
“I’m not going to sit here and lie, was I upset about the comment? Yup, but it was performative because I’m such a good performer on the air, but if people want to run with it… well, okay, whatever,” Kay said.
On Thursday morning, that statement did not sit well with Giannotti. He is the co-host of Boomer & Gio on WFAN with former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason.
“Michael Kay’s excuse for screaming at that producer was that he was doing, quote, performance art,” Gio said. “He was performing, and he’s such a great performer, and he actually said that he’s such a great performer that everybody believed that he was really that angry trying to get that guy fired when really it was just a show.”
Giannotti explained that Kay’s co-hosts, Don La Greca, and as Gio described, “whatever his face,” Peter Rosenberg defended Kay for the stunt and compared it to professional wrestling fans who take the sport seriously.
“Give me a break,” Gio added. “You don’t have to sit there and bootlick him any longer. He’s gonna retire. It doesn’t matter if you kiss his ass or not. That’s not going to be the difference in you getting that job when he leaves. Just stop it! Just stop kissing his ass! He was wrong; call him out for it!”
“It’s not performance art; you were pissed off!” Giannotti continued. “So how about coming on the air and being like, ‘you know what? I stepped over the line. I was really mad in the moment. I shouldn’t have threatened that guy’s job. I talked to him off the air. I’m sorry for doing that,’ but instead, I gotta believe it’s performance art? Are you fricken kidding me?”
Giannotti argued that if it were truly an act, then why would Kay tell the audience? He used the example of a magician who hides their tricks from the audience.
“To pull that kind of lie and bullcrap, to me, that was embarrassing!” Gio added. “Absolutely embarrassing!”
“If I ever go and say, on the air, for real, or go back to (WFAN’s Program Director) Spike Eskin and say, ‘this guy needs to be fired,’ you have permission to punch me right in the face because that is a ridiculous, ridiculous abuse of power, and that’s a guy who I think had no way out, couldn’t admit that he was wrong. And then painted this bullcrap picture that he’s some sort of performer.”
Watch above via CBS Sports Network.
