Radio host storms off air after being told he can’t joke about Demi Lovato being non-binary
Longtime radio host Matt Siegel walked off the air after being told to stop stalking about Demi Lovato’s non-binary identity. (Photo by Nic Antaya for The Boston Globe via Getty Images/The 32nd Annual GLAAD Media Awards/Getty Images for GLAAD)
Matt Siegel, a longtime Boston DJ and radio show host, walked off the air after he was told to stop talking about Demi Lovato’s non-binary announcement.
The “Sorry Not Sorry” singer came out as non-binary in a moving video on social media Wednesday (19 May), revealing that their pronouns are “they/they”. Lovato said their pronouns capture the “fluidity I feel in my gender expression” and allows them to feel “most authentic and true” to their identity.
Siegel, who is a host of the Matty in the Morning Show on KISS 108, made some comments about Lovato’s announcements and then claimed he was told by his boss to drop the issue. He claimed he is the “biggest of all time”, but his management told him to “shut up” and “stop talking”, according to the Boston Herald.
“They pulled the plug on me and they said, ‘You cannot talk about what you’re talking about,'” he said on-air. “I like my boss personally. I do. I’m very fond of him, he’s very nice to me. It’s not personal. It’s professional.”
The Boston Herald reported that Siegel has hosted his Boston morning show since 1981, and it is KISS 108’s highest performing programme.
Before Siegel walked away from the show after the Demi Lovato comments, he told his listeners that he loves them, and “it’s been a hell of a run”. But he said he thinks his run is “coming to an end”.
“I can’t do what I just want to do, which is be a funny comic who tells it like it is about what he’s thinking,” Siegel said. “So I’m ending my portion of the radio show right now.”
He also referenced Lovato’s non-binary identity before signing off. Siegel said the “whole binary thing” is a “joke”. He said: “I don’t care what Demi Lovato does, but now we have to worry about [if] you might offend someone.
“So I basically offended right-wing people, and today I offended left-wing people.”
In an interview with Boston.com, Siegal said that he believes he will remain with the station, despite what he said on air. He told the publication that he is “against her binary thing”. Siegel said: “I think she’s a troubled woman and a lot of young people are taking her seriously, and it bothers me.
“But of course, it’s a comedy show so I did it in the contest of jokes.”
