god I would love to know the thought process at Sirius
1 2014-09-16 by [deleted]
just think of everything that has dominated the news since Anthony tweeted about getting hit by that black girl. Ferguson, ISIS, Ray Rice, now Adrian Peterson, among other stuff. does it seem like anyone would still care about the Anthony "controversy"?
and its always this way, Ant was very clearly the kind of story that was gonna come and go in a week, all Sirius had to do was solemnly nod for a few days.
instead, as the young people of today say, they were a bunch of "panicky petes".
and now they pretty much have to cancel the channel, don't they? did they not realize this at the time? didn't they understand that firing Ant meant the end of the entire channel? it doesn't seem possible that anyone who has ever actually listened to the show could conclude that opie could carry this by himself.
the only way to save the channel now would be to make opies new contract worth $5.50 an hour plus tips (which he would accept) and then throw a ton of money at anthony jeselnik. isn't he amy schumers boyfriend? if nothing else maybe she could come on a lot. and then eventually replace opie.
note: didn't include Jimmy here bc he obviously has other interests and seemingly has no desire to "replace" Ant, on sirius or anywhere else
17 comments
16 kgt5003 2014-09-16
I've always been of the opinion that Sirius wasn't interested in keeping the show how it was. It was very expensive and the stock reports showed the big earners are sports and political talk and "shock jock" style programs have been steadily dropping since the early-mid 2000s. It seemed like a good chance for them to bail before having to go thru negotiations.
2 GeauxTiger 2014-09-16
i should have added this as an option because, assuming that they're not complete fucking morons, it was pretty much my assumption as well.
3 delbertgrady92 2014-09-16
Yeah it seems this decision was already on the agenda in some way. Only needed that extra push
10 AntsCamera 2014-09-16
This was a rock solid way to neuter the show, in a way that would hold them blameless. A new twist on the divide and conquer, take out the one with balls, the other 2 fall in line. Sirius wanted this show culled, they were too quick on the firing trigger.
Zero company complaints, man they fucking love it there now!
Now they (Sirius) have a show they like.
2 breadmoccasin 2014-09-16
It certainly fits in with all the other unlistenable generic horseshit on the platform. That company can't sink fast enough.
8 [deleted] 2014-09-16
Go work for a large corporation, around or with the executive level. You'll understand immediately why this decision was made, and guaranteed 50% of it was from the legal department.
I've worked in corporate America for a long time, and seen CEOs do all kinds of shitty things. Sirius is no different. All it takes is ONE suit in the executive office who didn't like Ant or what he said on the air, and the decision is made.
Sirius does not value talent. They just want high Q level celebrities to get people to sign up. What happens after that, they don't give a fuck, which is why Ant was allowed to say worse on the air. Some CEO or lawyer crafted the "violence" aspect for legal reasons to terminate their contract with him, the real reasons, who knows. It's just more shit rolling downhill from the pampered princes in the executive suite.
Anthony, I think, is learning what a blessing getting the fuck out of there it really is.
6 thesynking 2014-09-16
The heat was ALREADY dying down by the time they fired him but no, they just couldn't take it. And now we're fucked.
3 mancubuss 2014-09-16
there was that one article, ant was fired, and literally by monday afternoon the only people who still were talking about it were O and A fans
2 thesynking 2014-09-16
Yup. So fucking annoying.
4 alexgough12 2014-09-16
Also the lack of respect for a 20 year partnership (and Jimmy's 10). I get the fact the suits don't give a shit about a loyal fan base, or a brand. But nobody was even talking about Ants firing a week after it happened except O&A fans. He could've got away with a week suspension and been back and they would've had a great story to tell.
3 BeerCanThick 2014-09-16
Oh, absolutely. This was just one of those keyboard kommando things that was going to come and go in a week, especially during a holiday weekend.
3 jameskane33 2014-09-16
They will resign but Opie will take a huge pay cut.
1 _TheConsumer_ 2014-09-16
I agree with you, to a point. It was all very knee-jerk reactionary. However, if you want to understand the decision, you have to understand corporate America.
Corporate America doesn't care about your opinion, free speech or individuality. Corporate America only cares about sanitized business. This means day 1 should look exactly like day 1,000, no news is good news and the status quo is maintained. No waves means investors do not get spooked and jump ship.
From a consumer standpoint, the move is revolting. But, the bottom line isn't solely based on consumers - it is also based on brand, investors and advertisers.
As long as you have "sanitized" business being the corporate model, I don't see things getting better for edgy, un-PC speech.
-2 gsbird1065 2014-09-16
They acted out of principle . . . even if they didn't.
-2 westsidesteve 2014-09-16
I think Sirius looked at a guy who posted pictures of himself with weapons online constantly, who always "joked" about an interest in Nazism ("fan of the era...") who constantly expressed very far right wing opinions on race and such, who then got into an altercation with a woman of a different race on a public street (while armed even if he did the right and responsible thing by never producing his weapon during the fight) and then wrote a series of over the top angry tweets about it and feared something worse could one day happen and decided to cut their losses. You asked their thought process, I submitted a theory.
-6 TheActor_GreggHughes 2014-09-16
I really feel Opie pushed for him to get fired. Opie felt like it was his time to shine!
4 delbertgrady92 2014-09-16
He knows the show isn't that good anymore. Don't be such an idiot.
2 [deleted] 2014-09-16
[deleted]
2 thesynking 2014-09-16
Yup. So fucking annoying.
2 breadmoccasin 2014-09-16
It certainly fits in with all the other unlistenable generic horseshit on the platform. That company can't sink fast enough.