Stugotz fires back at Dan Le Batard ahead of further talks: ‘I’m pretty close to giving up’
· Yahoo Sports
The bizarre, simmering tensions between Dan Le Batard and Jon “Stugotz” Weiner may finally be reaching a conclusion.
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The longtime Miami-based Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz co-hosts went through a sudden split last summer, around the time Le Batard’s Meadowlark Media inked a new licensing deal with DraftKings. Stugotz’s solo podcasts were dropped from the DraftKings and Meadowlark banner, and the host was rumored to be taking a “step back.” After a few more spots on the show, Stugotz made his final appearance in late August.
As fall went on, Stugotz signed onto a FanDuel endorsement deal, joined Fox Sports Radio’s national lineup, and continued building his career separate from Meadowlark. Around January, when Stugotz announced his Fox show, he revealed he was due for nine more appearances under his Meadowlark contract, which he said he would satisfy under one unstated condition.
Stugotz never made those appearances, and the story mostly went silent until this week, when Le Batard addressed the situation once again on his show. The host called it “crushing” to be in such a public stalemate with his longtime co-host and not be able to discuss it with the audience, adding that there’s a job waiting for Stugotz if he wants it.
The comments did not appear to help matters, as Stugotz fired back Friday afternoon on his own radio show, revealing that while he plans to meet with Le Batard over the weekend for last-gasp negotiations over his future at Meadowlark, he is “pretty close to giving up” because of the disrespect he has felt from the company over the last year.
“Right now is the first time I have no contract, no contractual obligations to Dan, to the show, to Meadowlark, other than I believe I’m the second-largest shareholder of that company,” Stugotz revealed.
“I will tell you… they offered me a deal, an extension to my current deal, and I came back, I countered, and one of the counters was asking Dan to come on this show, and they said no. In fact, what they said to me was this: ‘We need Stu to show up to a couple of shows to show that he’s going to play ball before we agree or discuss any of this.’ And I said to them, ‘Twenty-plus years, I’m not agreeing to show up to do a couple of test shows because you guys want to see that I’m nice.’ Like, get the hell out of here.
“If I agree to do the show, I will do the show that Dan and I have done for the last 20 years, and I will do it to the best of my abilities, like we’ve done for the last 20 years. I’m not going to mail it in; I’m not gonna yell at Dan. I want to try to work this stuff out so me and Dan can get back on the air together, because I heard what Dan said yesterday, and there’s a part of me that wants that as well. I want it for me, I want it for him, I want it for the show, and mostly, I want it for the audience.”
As for the condition he set for the remaining nine shows on his contract earlier this year, Stugotz refused to reveal it specifically, but described it as “something that I think we should share in” and something that Le Batard “can deliver on if he wants to deliver on it.”
Stugotz also disputed the assertion that he ever wanted to leave, explaining that while he had interest in pursuing solo hosting opportunities and other work outside the Le Batard Show universe, he would never have chosen to do so on such terrible terms.
“I never imagined doing it outside the confines of the company that I helped create. So that’s the part that’s really frustrating,” he said.
“I don’t mind doing it. I love what we’re doing. This show has been cathartic for me; it has been therapeutic for me… and we’re just getting started. But I would have liked the opportunity to do it within the confines of the company that I built with Dan Le Batard. And I don’t care what Dan says. Never, ever afforded that opportunity. And since we’re here, one of the other things he said is that he helped me with this. He did not. Dan did not help me with this. Helping me with this would be doing it within the confines of the company that I helped build. Again, that was not afforded to me, and no one over there helped me with any of this. This was done on my own.”
Stugotz added that in their recent phone conversations, Le Batard has had a “different tone,” but that unless Le Batard “acknowledges” the fallout in terms that Stugotz agrees with, it will be a “difficult road back” to ever reuniting on air.
“If we continue to have the godd*mn conversation that he and I have been having now for almost a year, I’m telling you, I’m getting pretty close to giving up,” he said.
“So I’m going to give it one more try here, I’m going to try to connect with Dan this weekend… and hopefully we will get to some sort of resolution. Because I think I need it, I think he needs it, and I think everyone’s tired of this bullsh*t.”
The year-long saga has been fairly messy and public. The two hosts continue to go back and forth from afar over semantic details without actually revealing the nature of their rift.
Clearly, as Le Batard acknowledged himself this week when he said “business is hard,” something broke down behind the scenes that left Stugotz feeling disrespected or left out of what he feels he is entitled to. Going forward, it’s also unclear what Stugotz’s plans are with Meadowlark, considering he now hosts a daily radio show for Fox and iHeartMedia.
But Stugotz believes history will favor him if the details ever emerge, and said he is “comfortable telling people” in due time if he cannot come to a satisfactory agreement with Le Batard.
“I do want to come back. I want to be a part of it. I want to be able to do all of the things that we’re doing and some of the stuff over there,” Stugotz explained.
“But we need to get to some sort of resolution soon, because I will not allow Dan to tell his version of the truth without me rebutting and me having a say in it. Because I am telling you right now, the only person in this equation, and this sounds to our audience because I’ve been painted as a liar, a phony, and a fraud for 22 years, but the person who has the truth on their side in this particular case is me.”
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