Howard Eskin again not on air amidst kiss controversy

Last week, word emerged of the Philadelphia Phillies and 76ers both banning long-time 94.1 WIP radio host Howard Eskin from their stadiums. That reportedly came after an Aramark employee at the Phillies’ home of Citizens Bank Park accused Eskin of an “unwanted kiss” before a game, sparking an investigation. And while this has many others talking about Eskin, he himself has remained silent on the matter. But he’s now missed his Saturday show for two weeks in a row.

Eskin’s first missed Saturday was cited as a preplanned vacation. But this one is not. However, as per reporting from Rob Tornoe of The Philadelphia Inquirer, this was about Eskin not wanting his situation to interfere with the farewell of retiring long-time host Glen Macnow, whose show usually follows Eskin’s. Here’s more on that from Tornoe’s piece:

Sources at the station, who were not authorized to speak on the record, said Eskin’s absence from his Saturday morning show for the second week in a row was a decision made out of deference to Glen Macnow, who is retiring from WIP and was scheduled to host his final show immediately after Eskin logged off. In Eskin’s place was a rerun of the station’s morning show, hosted by Joe DeCamara and Jon Ritchie.

…Outside of a statement from WIP’s parent company, Audacy, confirming what they called an “unwelcome kiss,” the station has largely remained silent about the situation. Eskin hasn’t been suspended, but has yet to appear on WIP shows since the news became public. He’s been active on social media, but has opted against posting about the allegations.

The lack of comment here from both the station and Eskin is notable. Eskin’s son Spike, now an on-air host at WIP, did address this briefly on air last week, but mostly just said he wasn’t comfortable commenting on it and he doesn’t speak for his father. So everyone’s keeping pretty quiet here.

Eskin hosted WIP’s first sports show in 1986 and has been a significant figure there ever since. He did take a reduced role in 2011, but he’s continued to be notable both on and off the air. But the allegations here against him are definitely problematic, and the reaction from those teams shows that. We’ll see if Eskin does indeed return to the airwaves Saturday, and/or if he or the station speak more about what’s going on here.

[The Philadelphia Inquirer]