Boston Radio Icon Matt Siegel Quits Live on the Air After Being Told He Couldn't Joke About Demi Lovato

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If you live outside of New England, the name Matt Siegel might not register with you. If you live here, or have for any period of time like going to school or whatever, then no explanation is necessary. 

In a cutthroat business like terrestrial FM radio, where you're hired to be fired and a fairly large percentage of on-air talent don't make it past their first two-year contract, his "Matty in the Morning" show on KISS-108 has been nothing short of a cultural institution. He first went on the air with it in 1981. Back then KISS was a straight up disco station. The kind of brand that had us white suburban kids pranking our friends by putting KISS stickers on their car bumpers when they weren't looking. But Matty has not only survived for 40 years, but thrived. Through every imaginable social, pop culture and musical trend. All while holding a death grip on the all-important young demographic, which is the only thing advertisers care about. (Believe me, I took a thousand phone calls that begin, "I'm 75 years old and I saw Carl Yastrzemski's rookie season …" and you couldn't hear the rest of the conversation over the eyerolls from everyone in the studio who know attracting that audience equals death.) On a personal note, when I was still at WEEI I saw Siegel coming into the building to do Minehane's podcast and introduced myself. And the fact he already knew who I was is one of the most validating things to happen in my time there.

So this morning, when Matty had this meltdown on the air and stormed off, it was a 9.9 on the Boston media Richter Scale:

Boston.com has the context:

Siegel abruptly walked off his long-running morning show Tuesday after he says management told him to tone down his commentary surrounding pop star Demi Lovato. …

Reached by phone by Boston.com, Siegel said that he received a call from his boss telling him to stop talking about Lovato, who announced this morning that they are non-binary and are changing their pronouns.

“I’m against her binary thing; I think she’s a troubled woman and a lot of young people are taking her seriously and it bothers me,” Siegel said. “But of course, it’s a comedy show, so I did it in the context of jokes.

“We were having fun with it, and my boss called up and said that I’d crossed the line and they didn’t want me talking about it anymore,” he continued. “I responded by saying, ‘If I can’t talk about what I’m thinking at this point in my career, I don’t want to be on the radio anymore.’”

On air, Siegel was similarly defiant, saying that “Matty in the Morning” is the “number one radio show in the history of Boston.”

“I am the biggest of all time, and they said, ‘Shut up, Matt! Stop talking,'” Siegel said. “Well, I hope you’re happy, because I just stopped talking. Matty out.”

He then went on to say he doesn't think it's permanent:

“There’s no ill feeling between me and my boss or me and my company, none.” Siegel said. “They’re doing their jobs. … His heart was in the right place.”

Nevertheless, Siegel was still upset about what had transpired, saying that as a comedian, being told what to say or not say is “the worst thing you can say to a performer.”

“At some point, I hate to use this line, but you know the line from ‘Billions’ — ‘What’s the point of having f* you money if you never say f* you?’'” Siegel said. “If I don’t say it now, when? When I’m dead? … 

“Let me put it to you this way: Do you think I’m the only one that’s had it with the negativity in the world we live in during this pandemic?” Siegel said. “Do you think I’m the only person that’s snapped? I doubt it.” 

And to that I say,

Look, no one with a shred of human decency in their soul wishes ill of Demi Lovato. Or anyone else going through the same life experience. Lovato deserves all the support in the world and will no doubt get it. 

But if you also have a shred of a sense of humor in your soul, you have to allow for a comedian to do comedy about it. Not every joke is hopelessly cruel and needs to be banned. Not every attempt to make light of a thing is hatred. Demi Lovato is a wildly successful pop culture superstar whose life is not going to be affected one iota from a Boston DJ cracking wise to entertain his audience. Which, by the way, is how Matt Siegel has survived in a mercurial industry for four decades. By being interesting. By having things to say, agree with them or disagree with him. Not by giving the time and temperature and telling you which caller you need to be to get Jonas Brothers tickets. Like he goes on to say elsewhere in the article, management told him to stop making jokes about Trump. “So I stopped talking about Trump, and today I’m ‘anti-woke.’ You know the expression, ‘The guy standing in the middle of the road gets hit by cars going both ways?’ That’s what happened to me.” 

Again, bravo. 

More than anything, you have to respect Siegel for not apologizing. Which never works and only encourages the people trying to get you fired to try even harder to get you even more fired. This is yet another small skirmish in the broad culture war being fought on all fronts in this country. The counter attack has been led by brilliant minds like Dave Chappelle, Bill Burr, Joe Rogan, Ricky Gervais and others, who recognize that you can't take away comedian's right to do comedy. Like Rogan has said repeatedly, the only  answer to free speech you don't like is more free speech. If there's a radio host making with the jokes that offend you, you have the right to say what you want too. And turn off the radio and listen to Barstool's broad array of wildly entertaining content. 

But you can't run around banning jokes because you think some subjects are taboo. Sacred cows make the best hamburger. If you're a truly well adjusted individual, some of the hardest laughs you'll ever have will be from the stuff that offends you. As Monty Python's John Cleese - who made a movie that mocks my Lord and Savior that is one of my 10 favorite comedies of all time - put it, he talked to a clinical psychologist who told him the first sing a patient is getting better is when they gain the ability to laugh at themselves. And once we start down the road of saying some topics are off limits for comedy, that road will continue on until we have nothing left. While the guy standing in the middle of that road really will get hit by cars going both ways. So let's stay off that road and let highly successful morning radio hosts do their damned jobs. And keep making that sweet, sweet Fuck You money.