Anthony Cumia | |
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 Cumia in 2021 | |
| Born | (1961-04-26)April 26, 1961 (age 63) New York City, U.S. |
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| Country | United States |
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Anthony Cumia (born April 26, 1961)[1] is an Americanshock jock,podcaster and broadcaster. He is the host ofThe Anthony Cumia Show onWABC'sTalkradio 77[2][3] and theonline video platform,Compound Censored.[4] He was the co-host of theOpie and Anthony radio show, along withGregg "Opie" Hughes, which aired from 1995 to 2014.
In 2014, Cumia was fired bySiriusXM Radio after posting a series of racist tweets in which he claimed to have been assaulted by a Black woman.[5][6] In 2015, he was arrested for assaulting his then-girlfriend and pled guilty to third-degree assault and criminal obstruction of breathing.[7] He started his own video podcast soon after namedThe Anthony Cumia Show, which aired until September 2017, when he startedThe Artie and Anthony Show with comedian and actorArtie Lange. In May 2018, Lange left the show and was replaced by Dave Landau; the show's name reverted toThe Anthony Cumia Show.
Cumia was born inFlushing, Queens,[8] into an Italian-American family. He has an elder brother, Joe, and a younger sister, Dawn.[9] The family lived in various locations onLong Island includingElwood andEast Islip.[8][10] Cumia attended Timber Point Elementary School in East Islip,[11] followed byCuba Hill School andElwood-John H. Glenn High School in Elwood. One of his teachers was actressJoyce MacKenzie. After his parents separated, Cumia spent his early teenage years living with his father inSan Juan Capistrano, California.[12]
Before he started his radio career, Cumia installedheating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems.[10] He wanted to get into radio, and was influenced by popular New York City personalitiesHoward Stern andDon Imus.[13]
Cumia first met radio personalityGregg "Opie" Hughes when the latter held anO. J. Simpson song parody contest on hisNighttime Attitude show on Long Island radio stationWBAB. He and his brother Joe decided to enter the contest, and recorded an entry as Rotgut titled "Gonna Electric Shock OJ" to the tune of "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" byOtis Redding.[14] The song was a hit with Hughes, who played it several times on his show and, in September 1994, invited the Cumias to the studio to perform the song live.[15] Cumia began to contribute and produce comedy bits for Hughes and the station's morning show soon after.
Hughes and Cumia accepted an offer to host afternoons atWAAF inBoston, Massachusetts, and launchedOpie and Anthony in March 1995.[16] Cumia originally thought that by getting into radio he would make very good money, but later said his salary at WAAF was barely higher than doing manual labour.[17] The pair were fired in April 1998 for anApril Fool's Day prank that had listeners believe Boston MayorThomas Menino was killed in a car accident while transporting a young female Haitian prostitute.[18]
In June 1998,Opie and Anthony began atWNEW in New York City in afternoons, becoming a top 10 afternoon drive show in two years.[19] Around 2000, Hughes considered leaving the show but Cumia convinced him to stay asInfinity Broadcasting promised them a more lucrative contract and have the show nationally syndicated. The show developed further when comedianJim Norton joined the show as their co-host in 2001.[20] By mid-2002,Opie and Anthony was syndicated on 17 stations nationwide.[21] On August 22, 2002,Opie and Anthony was cancelled over their "Sex for Sam 3" segment five days earlier that involved aVirginia couple having simulated sex inSt. Patrick's Cathedral. Infinity kept Hughes and Cumia from being hired for the duration of their contract which expired in mid-2004.[21]
On October 4, 2004, the show returned to the air onXM Satellite Radio, a subscription-basedsatellite radio service. From April 2006 to March 2009, part of the show was simulcast on nine terrestrial radio stations owned byCBS Radio that were compliant with the broadcast regulations imposed by theFederal Communications Commission.[22] During this time, XM suspended the show for thirty days on May 15, 2007, after a homeless man, dubbed "Homeless Charlie", who appeared on the show, expressed his wish to rapeCondoleezza Rice andLaura Bush.[23]
On July 3, 2014, Cumia was fired by SiriusXM for a series of tweets in which he condemned a black woman who he said assaulted him and described her as an "animal"; the tweets were described by the company as "racially-charged and hate-filled".[5][24] Cumia said that he was repeatedly punched by her as he was taking pictures inTimes Square.[5][25][26] In the following week, Cumia refused to apologize for the incident.[27] He deleted the tweets after being fired.[28]
During his time at SiriusXM, Cumia gradually built a studio in his basement to broadcast. In 2012, he launchedLive from the Compound viaUstream which he started as a hobby and involved discussions on a variety of matters and "drunk karaoke".[29]Vice Media co-founder and commentatorGavin McInnes was a regular on the show.[30] Cumia retired the program in 2014.
In the week after his firing from SiriusXM in July 2014, Cumia announced the launch ofThe Anthony Cumia Show.[31] The show launched on August 4, 2014, through his subscription-based networkCompound Media, which was initially known as The Anthony Cumia Network, from Monday through Thursday from 4–6 pm.[32] In June 2015, Cumia expanded the network with new shows added to the weekly schedule. In August 2015, Cumia relocated his show to a studio in New York City and hired far-right commentatorGavin McInnes.[33]
On August 21, 2017, Cumia announced comedian and actorArtie Lange as the co-host of his new show,The Artie and Anthony Show. The show launched on September 5 and continued on the same schedule asThe Anthony Cumia Show.[34] The show lasted eight months and ended with Lange's departure on May 14, 2018. One week before Lange's departure, the show had added comedian Dave Landau as a permanent third mic. With Lange leaving the show, Landau took over as co-host and the show title switched toThe Anthony Cumia Show with Dave Landau.
Cumia was suspended fromTwitter for abusive comments in 2017. He then made a series of accounts that were also suspended.[35] He posted tweets saying that Black people were "incapable or unwilling to assimilate to a civil western society", calling them "things", "monsters", and "animals". By 2021, Cumia was permanently suspended by the site for ban evasion.[36]
On November 20, 2018, Post Hill Press released Cumia's memoir, titledPermanently Suspended: The Rise and Fall... and Rise Again of Radio's Most Notorious Shock Jock. It features a foreword by Jim Norton.[37]
In February 2021, Dave Landau leftThe Anthony Cumia Show with Dave Landau to joinLouder with Crowder onBlaze Media,[38] with the show's name reverting toThe Anthony Cumia Show.
On March 31, 2021, Cumia launched a second show titledCompound Censored, which he co-hosts withVice Media co-founder and comediccommentatorGavin McInnes. The show's title is aportmanteau which combinesCompound Media with McInnes'subscription-based networkCensored.TV, where the show also broadcasts.[39]
In June 2024, Cumia announced that the Compound Media studios were closing, and that he was merging his network andThe Anthony Cumia Show with Gavin McInnes' Censored.TV network.[40][4] McInnes changed the name of his platform toCompound Censored after the merger.[41]
In February 2025, it was announced that Cumia would be joiningWABC'sTalkradio 77 as host of a weeklyradio version ofThe Anthony Cumia Show.[42][2] The show debuted on March 9.[3] On March 11, less than 48 hours after the show’s debut, Red Apple Audio Networks announced the syndication ofThe Anthony Cumia Show following significant interest from stations nationwide.
Along with Opie, Cumia co-hostedXFL Gameday, a pregame show forVince McMahon's startupfootball league, for four weeks in February 2001. The half-hour show was produced byNBC's owned and operated stations and shown onChannel 4 in New York. The show was taped on Wednesdays at theWWF's "World" restaurant inTimes Square, and was open to the public. It featured analysis byWNBC sportscasterBruce Beck andNew York/New Jersey Hitmen head coachRusty Tillman, but also featured plenty of raunch. One segment featured Opie and Anthony as chefs, inserting a cucumber between two melons.
After the show's cancellation four weeks into the season, XFL creatorVince McMahon stated that he'd had no creative control over the show, further elaborating, "I heard it was horrible. Had I seen it, I would have shut it down."[43]
Opie, along with Anthony released a compilation of segments from their show that aired on WAAF on a CD entitledDemented World in November 1997.[44]
The Traveling Virus was a comedy tour headlined by Opie and Anthony, as well as friends of the show, that performed in various cities during2006,2007, and2008.
On the morning of March 26, 2008, Opie & Anthony revealed they had taped a pilot for Comedy Central. The show was titledSearch & Destroy and it featured teams of comedians performing various tasks throughout New York City. Opie and Anthony believe that it may have been too graphic even for cable television. Comedy Central did not pick the show up.
In 1987, Cumia met the future Jennifer Cumia who was dating his brother, Joseph Cumia, at the time.[45] Anthony began dating her in 1989 after she broke up with Joseph, and the two married after seven months. Jennifer filed for divorce in 1999. After a series of disputes over the settlement, the divorce was finalized in March 2002. Cumia later stated that marrying Jennifer was the biggest mistake of his life.[13] He then dated a woman he met on the show, Melinda, better known as "Lobster Girl", which became the source of online taunts against him, as he confirmed on their show.[46] After they parted ways, he datedJill Nicolini in 2008, and then model Melissa Stetten in 2012.[47] Cumia dated Danielle Brand until 2015.[7]
Cumia is a supporter of theNational Rifle Association of America and has had acarry permit for New York City.[48]
In 2006, Cumia bought a home inRoslyn Heights, New York, for $2.9 million. In 2020, he sold the home for $2.5 million, intending to move to asouthern state that more closely aligned with his views. Cumia eventually bought a property inSouth Carolina, which is now his primary residence.[49][50]
On December 19, 2015, in his home, Cumia assaulted his 26-year-old girlfriend Danielle Brand, the daughter ofStress Factory ownerVinnie Brand.[51] He was arrested byNassau County police on charges of strangulation, assault, criminal mischief, and unlawful imprisonment. Prosecutors said that Cumia had choked Brand, pinned her against the wall, and stomped on her hand. She had a broken rib, chest pain, and a swollen arm.[7] Cumia was released without bail on December 21, at which time his attorney stated that Cumia denied the allegations.[52]
In June 2016 Cumia pled guilty to third-degree assault and criminal obstruction of breathing in a plea deal. He was required to enter a six-month batterer's intervention program and alcohol abuse treatment.[7] Cumia later admitted on his show to biting Brand's hand because he "was pissed" and "out of [his] mind".[53] Cumia spent April 2016 in a rehabilitation facility in theTampa Bay area inFlorida.[54][55] He said that although his decision to enter rehab was related to the December 2015 incident, it was not court-ordered.[56]
Born April 26, 1961 in New York, NY.
