Threatened Dallas radio host denies he’s paid by Jerry Jones: ‘It’s really insulting’

All things considered, 105.3 The Fan’s Shan Shariff was pleasantly surprised with the reaction he received after Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones threatened his job on Tuesday.

For a radio host used to getting blowback, Jones telling him, “I’ll get somebody else to ask these questions” during his weekly appearance resulted in Shariff receiving near-unanimous support on both social media and in real life.

Still, the Shan & RJ co-host entered Wednesday’s confused about a couple of things, including what exactly it was that set Jones off. And Shariff and his co-hosts were especially baffled that that the 82-year-old not only doubled down on his statement later in the day, but also asserted to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini that he’s the one who pays the 105.3 The Fan morning show.

“I didn’t get upset with it, but it was like, ‘You know what? Screw you man,'” co-host RJ Choppy said on Wednesday’s episode.

“It’s really insulting, really demeaning, really insulting and again, out of nowhere,” Shariff said. “We have done 14 years of interviews with this man.”

“Never had fights like this,” Choppy replied.

Shariff proceeded to note the myriad of controversies the show has covered with Jones during his weekly appearances throughout the last 14 years — including segregation — none of which elicited a reaction like the one it received on Tuesday. Shariff then questioned why Jones would torch what he believes is a well-earned reputation for being media-friendly before reiterating that the show isn’t paid by the Cowboys owner.

“For damn sure it’s a fact that I don’t get paid or compensated by Jerry Jones, which I would love to be,” Shariff said. “Audacy signs my checks… I don’t want to get too much into station business and affairs. A lot of times though with teams, the financial arrangement is we get Jerry and [head coach Mike] McCarthy and a player show and all that; the team gets the commercial inventory when the games are aired. So there’s no exchange of monies.”

Shariff’s clarification was important, as Jones’ comment seemingly implied that 105.3 The Fan’s status as the radio home of the Cowboys means that he owns the station. That, obviously, isn’t the case and it’s unclear whether or not Jones actually knows that or if he was merely using his presumed influence over the station as a bullying tactic.

In any event, the entire situation remains a bizarre one, especially considering that it was a fairly benign question that set Jones off. Nevertheless, Shan & RJ remain committed to asking the Cowboys owner the tough questions, even if it wasn’t one that started all of this in the first place.

[105.3 The Fan]