Howard Eskin attends Eagles training camp, set to make WIP return after ‘unwelcome kiss’ at Citizens Bank Park
Eskin is expected to host his weekly WIP show Saturday after following a nearly monthlong absence following an "unwelcome kiss" at Citizens Bank Park.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/pmn/CQVOFZYZWZFNBAUX7IOGWGWXKQ.jpg)
Howard Eskin hasn’t been on the radio in about a month, but the longtime 94.1 WIP host sat alongside reporters Wednesday at the first day of Eagles training camp at the NovaCare Complex.
Eskin, 73, hasn’t appeared on the air since The Inquirer reported that the longtime sports talker made an unwanted advance toward an Aramark employee at Citizens Bank Park in May.
Audacy, WIP’s parent company, banned Eskin from Citizens Bank Park for the rest of the season after an investigation found he gave the woman what the company called an “unwelcome kiss” in the CP Rankin Club behind home plate. He also has been barred from the Sixers’ practice facility in Camden, according to Inquirer columnist Marcus Hayes, who is also employed by WIP.
An Eagles spokesperson said Audacy requested a press credential for Eskin to cover training camp, and the team approved the request.
In addition to his hosting duties at WIP, Eskin serves as the station’s sideline reporter during Birds games, alongside announcers Merrill Reese and Mike Quick.
Eskin is expected to host his weekly WIP show this Saturday morning, according to sources at the station not authorized to speak publicly. He wasn’t suspended, according to a spokesperson, but it will be his first time back on the air since news of the allegations became public. Preplanned days off kept him from hosting his Saturday show at least two weekends, sources said.
The station and its hosts largely have remained silent about the situation. WIP host Spike Eskin, Howard’s son, addressed the allegations briefly on the air earlier this month, but only to tell listeners he didn’t “feel comfortable” commenting on the situation.
Howard Eskin, a graduate of Northeast High School, hosted WIP’s first sports talk show in 1986, and has been an outsized presence at the station ever since. He took a reduced role in 2011 but still appears regularly on the station and hosts a Saturday morning show, often from the Borgata in Atlantic City.