Howard Eskin denies he had a physical altercation with female Audacy employee
Eskin wrote Saturday he is the victim of a “vicious smear campaign being waged against me by a small group of employees” at 94.1 WIP.
Howard Eskin called the reports surrounding his sudden departure from WIP-FM (94.1) a “vicious smear campaign being waged against me by a small group of employees at the station.”
Eskin posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday morning that he was interrupted by a female employee of the station while having an “important conversation” with Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham. Eskin and Graham had just finished a remote broadcast on Dec. 9 at Chickie’s & Pete’s in South Philadelphia where Graham created a stir by suggesting on air that there was a rift between Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and wide receiver A.J. Brown.
“I raised my voice, irritated at the interruption,” Eskin wrote. “She stormed away and I followed her and tapped her arm to get her attention to apologize and explain why I was upset. I did not grab her. I apologized three times. She wouldn’t accept my apology or hear me out.”
» READ MORE: Sielski: Howard Eskin is gone. Good.
Sources told The Inquirer on Friday that Eskin “forcibly grabbed” the woman on the shoulder after she walked away from Eskin, who yelled at her for interrupting his conversation. The woman, sources said, interrupted Eskin’s conversation to tell Graham that a crowd of autograph seekers had formed.
“There was absolutely no ‘physical altercation’ between me and a female employee at the station,” Eskin wrote. “I did not ‘forcibly grab’ anyone. … The amount of piling on since has been disappointing to say the least. I am only commenting because in all the years of a very public life I have never put a hand on anyone. I can’t tolerate these lies. As they say, don’t believe everything you read in the paper or on social media.”
This incident came five months after an Aramark employee accused Eskin of giving her an “unwelcome kiss” before a Phillies game at Citizens Bank Park. Eskin was banned from the ballpark but remained on WIP’s airwaves.
He hosted a two-hour show on Saturday mornings and served as the sideline reporter for the network’s Eagles broadcasts. Eskin apologized for the incident at Citizens Bank Park, saying on air that he felt “awful” about it and was “truly sorry that this did occur.”
He announced his departure from WIP on Dec. 20, less than two weeks after the incident at Chickie’s & Pete’s. Audacy released a statement shortly after, saying they “parted ways” with Eskin after 38 years. He was replaced on the Eagles’ sidelines on Dec. 29 by Devan Kaney and watched the game from a front-row seat at Lincoln Financial Field dressed in his usual suit and headphones he wore while serving as the sideline reporter.
Eskin has been a fixture in the city’s sports landscape since the 1980s, working as a TV sports anchor before hosting WIP’s first sports-talk show in 1986. His star blossomed in the 1990s when Eskin dominated the afternoon airwaves with a boisterous brand of sports talk. He was “The King” and anyone who disagreed was a “dope,” “nitwit,” or “genius.”
He took a reserved role in recent years at WIP but still had a presence, regularly attending games and news conferences with a WIP credential. The Sixers banned him from their practice facility after the incident at Citizens Bank Park, and the Eagles blocked him from their complex last month after Eskin departed WIP.