Anthony Cumia is one of the most recognized names in talk radio as co-host of The Opie and Anthony Show. Beginning back in 1995 and over the years, a few incidents have caused suspensions and firings of the two radio personalities. Always landing on their feet, the popularity of the show among a core fan base has not waned as they rebuilt their empire on SiriusXM over the past decade. Recently abruptly fired by SiriusXM due to a personal angry tweet, Cumia stands strong and reluctant to apologize for expressing frustration on a social media forum after being physically assaulted. Recently, we sat down with a passionate and opinionated Cumia for a serious discussion about freedom of speech, the unbalanced consequences of speaking freely, changes in the world, the launching of The Anthony Cumia Show, and much more.
CrypticRock.com – It really has been a wild ride for you as a radio host over the past two decades. The Opie and Anthony Show was a huge hit on terrestrial radio, and then you moved over to satellite radio to celebrate more success. Of course, there have been ups and downs along the way, but tell us a little bit about what this career has been like for you.
Anthony Cumia – Wow, if you look at it as a whole, it really is crazy, like a roller coaster ride. First, who would have thought anything would have happened; I’m in construction, farting around making a few bucks, and then I end up on a radio show that really becomes popular. I just would have been happy doing any radio, and then it turned out to be successful. We rode that one until we kind of screwed up, then we rode the next one till we screwed up, and now it is a WHOLE NEW THING, a whole new medium with the internet show. I am very excited about it, though.
CrypticRock.com – Yes, as you just mentioned to the internet show, it came down a few weeks ago shockingly to many listeners that SiriusXM decided to fire you over a personal tweet that had absolutely nothing to do with The Opie and Anthony Show. Obviously, one can imagine your initial reaction was anger, frustration, and disgust. We have seen a lot of this lately in mainstream media, where people are being ridiculed just for words spoken and not physical actions. Granted, these words were obscene, but anyone who knows you and the show knows that you have spoken like this on the air before. How are you feeling about all that has transpired since it is still very fresh?
Anthony Cumia – We are in some of the most ridiculous times that I have lived through, as far as this fake offended thing is going. People are searching for things to get offended by. They are sending their friends things that their friends have never heard, hoping that they get as offended as they were sending them. We are in the strangest period of time, as far as transfer of information goes and everything, you have social media, people doing pod casts, a lot of people have a voice these days. For all the people that have voices, there seems to be somebody out there just waiting for that voice to offend them and strike to either have them lose a show, a job, livelihood, family, friends, or whatever it is. With all this new freedom that everyone has to be heard, it seems like there are just as many people waiting to stomp on people’s freedoms to express themselves.
It is angering; I was furious when I first found out Sirius gave me the boot. I thought they would at least hang in there until somebody even said something. Nobody was even clamoring to have me fired at that point. They just decided to knee-jerk, head-it-off-at-the-pass kind of thing and throw me out of there. Again, that is an example of the times we are living in. A lot of people would say that freedom of speech does not give you freedom from consequences. I understand that. I have been in this business; I have been speaking ever since I was a child (chuckles), and I understand what responsibility comes with your freedom of speech. When you hang things over people’s heads, like their jobs, reputations, and other things, based on what a small minority might write about them on a blog or say about them, you truly are infringing on the spirit of freedom of speech. It is not just the government cutting you off from saying something that should be covered under freedom of speech because I have heard that argument, too, that it does not allow you the freedom to offend someone without consequence. There is this fear now; there is this impending doom that if you do speak openly and honestly, there will be consequences well beyond just a lively debate with somebody; you will lose your job, you will lose your reputation. This is a real fear people have, and it needs to be addressed.
CrypticRock.com – Your take on freedom of speech is right on target and everything else that is taking place in modern society. Fear is being struck into people to not speak their minds and be open with things. We all have emotions and say things out of anger sometimes that may be harsh. Of course, words can hurt, but you did not violently attack someone. Most certainly, letting off steam through words as opposed to actual violence is always better. Like you said, who actually is getting offended. No individual has actually said they are offended here.
Anthony Cumia – You are right; there is no individual who has said that they have been offended. A lot of times, it is a blog with an agenda that wants to make a name for themselves. They will jump on the bandwagon and try to get some heat from it. Whether someone is really, truly affected by what you say, and there is going to be a negative impact on people’s lives because of something you said, it is just not happening out there.
People are entitled to their opinions, even if they are horrid opinions, and if there should be consequences to your opinions and your speech, it should be through other speeches and other debates. It should be an equal consequence for what you are saying.
Now, if I am trying to incite a riot, and a riot is indeed incited, if I am gay-bashing and a person can directly link a gay person being beaten by it, those should demand consequence if directly related. That is, if it fits the prime, let’s say, of hate speech that people are calling it. If it is just an opinion that people are finding repugnant, then voice your opinion, and in an equal way, give your side of it. Why should someone lose their job, a relationship, or a reputation based on an opinion? Why do people clamor to have so much damage done to someone’s life based on nothing more than what they said and an opinion on something when the retribution should be nothing more than a debate? It is astounding to me that we live in these times.
CrypticRock.com – This is extremely true, people just want to shoot something down opposed to discussing it. A lot of people who cherish freedom of speech should really think about the broader picture and perhaps think about the Voltaire quote, ” I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.” You have wasted no time in picking yourself up after this unceremonious goodbye SiriusXM gave you. You have not felt sorry for yourself, and now you are starting your own show called The Anthony Cumia Show, which started on August 4th as a completely uncensored video podcast. Obviously, you have done Live From The Compound in the past, but was this something you have been pondering on doing for a while?
Anthony Cumia – Yes, absolutely. I have had it on my mind to do a show like this. I really wasn’t in the position to put all my energy towards it when you were doing a daily radio show like we were doing on SiriusXM. It does not leave you enough time for the creativity and logistics of everything to put together a show like this. Thank god I had been putting together the studio and logistics to do something like this. It is like having the Ark built before the storm, I was very happy I did have all this in place (laughs). Then it just took getting the right people lined up to get it running right. It was always a fly-by-wire kind of thing when I popped on Live From The Compound to do it because I would have a few beers, and there would be something going on I wanted to talk about, and that is what I would do. Although, I was limited in what I could do because I was working for SiriusXM. They did not like that I was doing a compound show; they thought, for some reason, I was diluting their product or infringing on their right to exclusivity, all that lawyerly bullshit. It was fun for me, and it was very fun to do.
That is how I feel about this; it is more structured, and there is more support behind me now than when it was just the compound show, which is a good thing, but it is completely uncensored. I am in my own house, and even though I am broadcasting out, I am broadcasting to people who want to hear this and who are subscribing to it. It is in my house, and if I cannot say everything I want to say, and my listeners cannot say everything they want to say, regardless of no restrictions on content, words, politics, or anything, then we are in big trouble because I am in my fucking house (laughs). They are paying to hear this. Nobody who does not want to hear this should be hearing this. So if someone gets wind of what I had been talking about and gets upset, which I assume will happen eventually, it is going to be a high and hardy fuck you from me as far as an apology goes, retraction, or changing of my ideas with what I want this show to be. It is truly now, completely uncensored.
CrypticRock.com – Yes, people are going to gravitate towards that brutal honesty. You have always been very open and honest about your feelings about social topics. The fact that you are unapologetic and standing your ground is commendable, as many others who are in the public eye have cowered to apologize for things they have said countless times.
Anthony Cumia – The apologies themselves are so insincere and so selfish that whenever someone apologies in the media for something they did, it is nothing more than please, please don’t fire me, please, I need my job. That is what these apologies are. If anyone thinks these apologies are sincere, they are idiots. You would not have said it in the first place if you did not mean the bulk of it.
How you used the words, what you said, and how you put it together might be changed depending on how angry you are or whatnot because what I said, I was pissed. This bitch hit me upside the head so many times, and I had to hold back and do nothing when I was assaulted taking pictures in Times Square. All I did was react with zero violence, in reality, with her right there, zero violence. Then, I spoke about it on Twitter. I was very angry and used harsh words and whatnot, but I was very angry at the time. I walked away from it at the time without laying a hand on anybody. How is it worse to write about how angry you were than to actually be violent in a situation like that? It is astounding to me. Just when you think you are doing the right thing, these PC police will come swooping in. What, should I have been nicer to the person who assaulted me? That is not how we work as human beings (laughs).
CrypticRock.com – It really is unbelievable. These are things society seems to brush under the rug rather than discuss. No one should ever want to ignite hate or violence on anyone, whether it be racial, sexual orientation-based, or whatever. Now, many people often condemn you because of your pro-gun stance, and they think you are this violent animal, but in this situation, you constrained yourself from any violent action. The knee-jerk reaction when you are assaulted is to defend yourself and fight back; that is human nature. You were clearheaded enough not to lose it at that moment.
Anthony Cumia – Right, exactly. I never said this on Twitter or anything. I never had any inkling that my life was being threatened at that point. She was popping me upside the head, but again it was some dumb bitch hitting me upside the head. It was not like some guy, a man, belting me in the nose; something where I felt like, uh oh, I’m ready to be knocked out or anything like that. It was never an inkling; I felt my life was in danger. I felt there was a threat in that situation and that I really needed to keep my head on a swivel and look at everything that was going on, but again, I reacted with no violence whatsoever. I wrote about it very shortly after the incident happened, so I was still wound up and very pissed off. How is that unacceptable, how is your basic human instincts unacceptable now to voice in an open and free forum? We are so fucked, and I hope, like you said, people gravitate towards this because this is against everything that is happening right now. I did not apologize, and I will not apologize when all these people are just spilling their guts trying to save their own jobs. I will talk about any subject in plain blunt language regardless of who it offends, who says were are not allowed to use certain language, this is all thrown out the fucking window as far as this show is concerned. It is truly going to be an open and honest forum for people to voice their opinions with no restrictions.
CrypticRock.com – You have a lot of valid points there. This new show sounds exciting, and it most certainly will appeal to a broad range of people. On The Opie and Anthony Show, obviously, humor was always the driving point, and serious topics were often discussed with very stimulating discussions. Will the new show format be more centered on serious political topics, or will comedic elements still be strongly present?
Anthony Cumia – Well, as you said with The Opie and Anthony Show, we would get into serious topics, but interspersed in there was Jimmy would say something, I would say something, he would knock me down, I would laugh my balls off. That is who I am as a personality; there is always going to be a comedic element, even to the most serious subject. If I start to trip up or somebody, a caller maybe, calls me out on something; that is an opportunity to make it funny, to be self-deprecating. All that stuff is still a part of it because it was never an act on The Opie and Anthony Show. That is just who I am. That is who I was my entire life, so yes, we will talk about serious stuff, but I don’t think the goof element, the tongue-in-cheek, and just the comedy will ever go away. That is going to be a big part of the show, absolutely.
CrypticRock.com – Of course, because that is your personality, and it is very evident from your history in broadcasting. The Opie and Anthony Show has always had a very organic feel to it. Now, the show has made many friends over the years with a variety of individuals in entertainment, from comedies to musicians to actors. Can we expect to see some familiar faces and voices from The Opie and Anthony Show on The Anthony Cumia Show?
Anthony Cumia – Yes, I think so. As you said, the show itself has brought on a bunch of comedians and guests who ended up being friends over the years, and that has not stopped. Some of these guys I find amazing comedians, great friends, very funny and quirky people who I absolutely want on the show. The only difference is the way I am running this show. I want to get away from the face-to-face interviews.
My entire house is, in essence, a set (laughs). In every room, you throw a camera and lights in it, and it is a set, so why do everything from the studio here? That is going to be the main focal point, is the studio, when I am on and when I am talking about things and taking phone calls. As far as guest interviews go, I want to wire up the guests with laugh mics and be sitting at the bar, and maybe a pretty girl is tending the bar, and we are just talking like we were out at a bar or be out at the pool and there is a couple of girls out on the floats in pool or in the Jacuzzi as we are just talking in the foreground with a couple of beverages on a nice afternoon. That, to me, brings out that more just talking rather than this serious interview kind of a thing. I think it opens it up to be more real, and I hate to use the words reality show because that has been some of the worst programming that is out there now, but it brings a real, reality feel to it that these people are at my house. We are really hanging out outside, and we are just talking like two people would talk. I think that opens up the conversation to a lot more than just a Q and A interrogation kind of thing and kind of takes people off guard that this is not an interview, we are just hanging out.
CrypticRock.com – Exactly. It is more of a natural conversation than a Q&A, which is very formal. That is a great approach. It is going to work well because that is when you get people at their most sincere, off their guard, and relaxed.
Anthony Cumia – There are certain things you feel a little weird saying into a microphone with a camera on you that you would not feel weird about if you were just having a conversation with somebody at a different location. There are a couple of different taped segments
I would like to do, like, if someone was a little liberal-leaning, and I want to take them out to the Calverton Shooting Range, and we blast off some rounds and do an interview like that, sitting on the bumper of the Escalade in between pounding out some rounds into some targets. I have never known a guy that did not laugh his ass off the first time they shot a gun, so I think it would be a funny, unique spin on an interview with somebody that may not be that into guns or someone that might be a little liberal-leaning to finally get them to see what it is all about.
These are the kinds of interviews I would rather do – taking people out of that interview element and throwing them into situations that may not be that comfortable or might be very comfortable.
CrypticRock.com- That sounds great, actually, and adds a lot of intrigue. Going back to The Opie and Anthony Show, you had a long-time working relationship with Opie and Jim Norton as well. It was clear to see the chemistry you three share together on the air. It has been documented you have given your blessing for them to go on with the show. The question many listeners may be asking is, might there be a possible reunion between yourself, Opie, and Jim Norton at some time in the future on another platform?
Anthony Cumia – Yes, I have said that before, too. Absolutely, if the opportunity opened up to work with those guys again, and it is the right project, I would love it. If it were something like a morning show, I would still do this. This is great, 4-6 p.m. afternoon drive (laughs), it opens up a lot of opportunities for the a.m. We will see what those guys want to do.
I do not even know what their plan is when the contract is up on October 3rd or 2nd. They are going to have some decisions to make, which I was thinking is what I was going to have to do with them: make some kind of decision in October if we were going to stay or not or what they were going to come to the table with. They will have to deal with that, so who knows what they want to do. I know Jimmy has his VICE show, which I saw in the first episode; it is fucking hilarious. He is working on other projects, and I know things Opie wanted to do that he has talked about over the years. maybe they won’t want to do that basic morning show with the two or three of us, and it might just be time to move on to something else. I was kind of forced into this. I wanted to do it, but again, I was pretty comfortable over there at SiriusXM. When you are thrown into a situation like this, it gets very exciting, and all the new creativity for a new medium comes out, and it becomes fun again. It is very exciting, fun, dangerous, and scary.
CrypticRock.com – You are approaching this new project the right way. Do you feel like maybe the adversity you had in the past, with the four-year absence, the incidents back then, and moving to SiriusXM, set you up by giving you thicker skin to deal with this better?
Anthony Cumia – Oh fuck yes. That first time we got thrown out the door in Boston, I absolutely thought I’d be back in an attic humping ductwork (laughs) and saying, “Yes, I did radio for a couple of years.” Yes, when you have been through a couple of these you kind of know there are other options. You look around and see what is out there and what new technology there is. Within a three-year deal in radio, so many changes as far as the technology in broadcasting goes, and completely new industries opened up. You might think, “I’m going to do this,” “Boy, I hope I re-sign,” or “I might go to another station,” but you rarely take into consideration that there is brand new technology out there that you know has that option too.
I think this is a huge opportunity for myself and also for the whole industry. You look at successful people like Adam Carolla and Joe Rogan in podcasting, and you realize there are not many people who are that successful doing podcasts. I really want to turn that around and change the whole medium into a more professional, polished, and accepted form of broadcasting. A lot of people have the internet available to them now in places that, until a couple of years ago, were unheard of, especially in their cars. It is advancing by the day. This is a brand new medium for professional broadcasters to go into and actually have a successful career in.
CrypticRock.com – That is quite a challenge and, honestly, an exciting challenge. You have done so much to this point that you want to give yourself a new challenge. Why continue to do the same thing and play it safe all the time?
Anthony Cumia – Yes, we were twenty years in doing this, and again, I would have signed on again doing another 2,3,5 years, or whatever, and had fun doing it. I want to have a new challenge and a new medium, to jump into where the creativity is up to me, whatever I want to do, whoever I want to bring aboard, and however I want to do it. I don’t have a fucking management or boss hanging over my head telling me what I can and cannot do; you have an idea and they give you that moan, it is just not there anymore. It really does open up these little compartments in your brain that (laughs) ooze creativity that might have been closed for quite a while because you have people who were not going to support it.
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