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‘I was criticized for not being woke enough’: Radio giant Matt Siegel opens up in new Globe interview
“I probably retired a little sooner than I had planned because I wasn’t very good at dealing with some of the woke stuff,” Siegel told The Boston Globe.
Talk radio giant Matt Siegel — who hosted Kiss 108’s “Matty in the Morning” for 41 years — reflected on his retirement, his struggles with “woke” culture, and his “falling out” with former cohost Billy Costa in a wide-ranging interview with The Boston Globe.
Siegel, who first appeared on Boston’s airwaves in 1977, announced his retirement in 2022 following a period of turbulence for his eponymous show. He infamously walked off “Matty in the Morning” in 2021 and claimed management told him to tone down his commentary on pop star Demi Lovato, who had recently come out as non-binary and started using they/them pronouns (Lovato later reintroduced she/her pronouns).
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“I wasn’t canceled,” Siegel told the Globe of the aftermath. “But I probably retired a little sooner than I had planned because I wasn’t very good at dealing with some of the woke stuff.”
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The 74-year-old said he found it “ironic” that as a lifelong Democrat and “anti-Trump” guy, he had been “criticized for not being woke enough.” However, Siegel also said he regrets not realizing some of his commentary near the end of his run was upsetting people.
“My whole life, my whole career, was based on knowing where the line was, and toward the end I lost sight of when I was being funny and when I was being hurtful,” Siegel told the Globe.
Costa and Lisa Donovan, his longtime cohosts, took over the show following Siegel’s retirement. Siegel told the Globe he and Costa had “a little falling out” over a personal matter but said he’s now “totally cool” with his former right-hand man. He also noted that shortly before he retired, he began doing the show from his house in Florida, which “made it harder.”
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“Because if we had had that falling out and I was in Boston, we would have talked it out,” Siegel added. “The fact that I was a couple thousand miles away, we never did work it out. So that’s unfortunate. But, like I said, I’m totally appreciative of his talent.”
Siegel was inducted into the national Radio Hall of Fame back in September.
Read Siegel’s full interview with The Boston Globe.
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