A Houston-based radio station has been kicked off of radio row at Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis after two hosts got into a heated argument that went viral on Wednesday.
As Matt Young of the Houston Chronicle noted in his recap of the feud, the entire crew of SportsTalk 790 was forced to leave radio row after morning host Josh Innes confronted Seth Payne, a former Texans defensive lineman who hosts a different morning show on SportsRadio 610 in Houston. The argument was broadcast live on air and a video was tweeted out by the “Kirk & Callahan Show” of WEEI in Boston.
A fight on radio row!! pic.twitter.com/x4uUNnHKdC
— Kirk & Callahan (@KirkAndCallahan) January 31, 2018
Innes was apparently the aggressor, as he sent his producer Jim Mudd to the 610 table to disrupt Payne’s show. As Mudd was walking away, Payne told him to have Innes “stop hiding behind his microphone” and confront Payne face to face. Innes responded to the challenge by walking over to the 610 table himself, and that’s when things became animated.
“You’re a fraud, you’re a joke, you bounce around, the Philly people here know you’re a joke, the Houston people …,” Payne said. “You have like one employer left who you can work for.”
Payne referenced how Innes only returned to Houston radio after being fired in Philadelphia, and Innes predicted that Payne and his co-host Mike Meltser will eventually be fired.
“You’re weak, you’re insecure, you can’t leave things alone,” Payne added. “You’d be so good if you’d focus on being good, but you’re so obsesed with everybody who doesn’t like you that you fall apart.”
Well-respected Houston reporter John McLain was a guest on 610 at the time the argument broke out, and he eventually left his seat.
Innes and Payne later appeared on WEEI to talk about why they have grown to dislike one another.
— Mike Mutnansky (@MutWEEI) January 31, 2018
Basically, the feud between Payne and Innes is one we see all the time with radio personalities, only they took things too far. Each host has tried to explain his side of the story on Twitter, but the whole thing was pretty immature.
For people outside the city who don’t understand the situation, I’m not one to look for stuff like this. Dude has been lying about us for months while failing on radio. Sent his producer to record us while we were on air and I had enough. Ask around about his reputation.
— Seth Payne (@PayneNFL) February 1, 2018
Can we discuss the reality of what happened at Radio Row? https://t.co/8gg4QdTjaI
— Josh Innes (@JoshInnesShow) January 31, 2018
With two weeks to kill between conference championship games and the Super Bowl, we often see ridiculous things happen that have nothing to do with football. This is yet another example of that.
