'Matty In The Morning' Radio Host Matt Siegel Returns, Day After He 'Snapped' On Air
BOSTON (CBS) - Matt Siegel, the longtime host of "Matty in the Morning" on Kiss 108 in Boston, was back on the air Thursday morning, a day after he appeared to have quit.
Siegel told listeners Thursday he "snapped" Wednesday, after he was told to stop talking about Demi Lovato regarding the singer's announcement that they now identify as non-binary.
The host said he's been "frustrated" recently because he's been forced to talk about topics he has no interest in. But Wednesday, he said, he was "on a roll" and having a good time and continued the jokes when the topic of Lovato came up.
"I was upset with her and her statement about the pronouns. I thought it was ridiculous. And I talked about it. I told jokes. That's what we do," Siegel said. "When I was feeling on a roll, really enjoying and feeling like the old Matty on the air, that's when I got the call to stop talking about it that's when I just snapped and said I just can't be here anymore."
During the segment Wednesday, Siegel told his audience he did not want to continue on air if there were limits on what he could talk about.
"I am the biggest of all time and they said shut up Matt, stop talking. Well, I hope you're happy because I just stopped talking. Matty out," Siegel said before leaving and not returning for the final 45 minutes of the show Wednesday.
On Thursday, Siegel said he spoke with management after that show and they told him he has their full support, so he made the decision to return.
"Of course I talked to my wife about it and I talked with the company and the company told me that, they basically said please don't quit. And they said that I have total support from them and freedom to say what I want. So I kind of won that battle," Seigel said.
Siegel also insisted Wednesday's incident "was not a gag" and that he did have a genuine moment of wanting to leave the show.
"What bothers me is some of the national press that I got said 'Well maybe it's a radio stunt.' It was no radio stunt. You were looking at my eyes when I wanted to quit. That bothers me that some people thought this was just a gag. It was not a gag," said Siegel, adding "If I can't say what I'm thinking, then I don't want to do it anymore."