St. Louis Radio Host Tony Patrico Has Left the Show Following DM Allegations
Published Jan. 5 2023, 9:38 a.m. ET
Some St. Louis radio listeners may have noticed that Tony Patrico, the regular co-host of The Rizzuto Show on The Point no longer seems to be on the show. As it turns out, Tony has left the station altogether.
Many of his fans are wondering what's behind his sudden departure from the station. Keep reading for all of the details on happened to Tony and why he's leaving.
What happened to Tony Patrico?
According to reporting in The Riverfront Times, Tony left the station amid allegations that he had messaged fans sexually suggestive comments. The Point announced that Tony would be leaving the station in a social media post on Jan. 4, 2023, saying, “Tony Patrico is no longer with Hubbard Radio or a member of The Rizzuto Show. The show returns as scheduled tomorrow at 6 a.m.”
The news of Tony's departure comes after a Facebook account with the name Robert Reynolds and a Twitter account called @HellNoPatrico began posting accusations of inappropriate behavior. Both accounts have posted screenshots that seem to be from Tony in which he makes sexually suggestive comments, and then follows up on those messages by suggesting that his initial comments were a joke.
Women have been sharing their stories about Tony.
The news of Tony's departure comes nearly a decade after he first joined the show in 2014. After the news was posted that he had left The Point, women began chiming in with their own stories about the inappropriate comments he had made.
"Just want to say thank you to the individuals that did come forward because I’ve received messages from him over the span of a good 3–4 years (via Snapchat and Instagram) and never had the guts to speak up about it," one person wrote.
"He messaged me on twitter saying he had a dirty dream about me after i had taken a selfie with him and the crew after an event. His baby was like 2 weeks old," another person added.
If these comments and others are to be believed, Tony engaged in this behavior with some frequency, and did so while he was married.
Tony's co-host addressed his departure on air.
In addition to the official statement about Tony's departure, his co-host Scott Rizzuto recorded an audio message. Scott said that he couldn't go into the details of the case in part because it was a personnel issue.
“We cannot get into the specifics of it,” he said. “All I can say –– and I’m speaking for all of us here –– we are in complete shock. To say the last couple of days have been difficult is the understatement of the century."
"And we’re still all processing everything that happened," the host continued. "We’re sad, we’re devastated. We have spoken with Tony. He is our friend. But this is really hard. Again, speaking for all of us here on the show, we have nothing but compassion and empathy for everyone involved in the situation.”