SiriusXM radio host Gregg “Opie” Hughes, formerly of the popular “Opie and Anthony” radio show, responded Tuesday to a number of claims recently made by Anthony Cumia on his new online-based show — and the soured relationship between the two former on-air partners is getting ugly.
“I just want to move on with my f***ing life and my career, but for some reason, Anthony will not let me do that, which is extremely strange to me,” Hughes said on his new SiriusXM radio show. “He spent two hours on his show pretty much trying to destroy what I’ve done in radio, what I’ve done with ‘The Opie and Anthony Show’, kind of destroy me as a person.”
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 17: Anthony Cumia, Greg 'Opie' Hughes and Ron Bennington SiriusXM's O&A20: Unmasked With Opie & Anthony Special Celebrates 20 Years Of Opie & Anthony at Carolines On Broadway on April 17, 2014 in New York City. Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM
Hughes, who now co-hosts the radio show with comedian Jim Norton, said he’s “saddened” by his ex-partner’s remarks, but then also called his rant “pathetic.” The host also reiterated that he had nothing to do with Cumia’s firing, but complained that he won’t leave him alone and stop taking shots at him.
“I knew for many, many years that Anthony disliked me immensely,” Hughes added. “I knew for many, many years that he was manipulating people behind the scenes to dislike me immensely. I tried to talk to Anthony about our issues, I tried.”
In what might be a surprise to non-regular listener, Hughes revealed that he and Cumia were “best friends from 1994-1999. From that point on, they didn’t even have a relationship, he said. In fact, Hughes said, Cumia has never even met his daughter and he only met his 5-year-old son once when his wife met him at the studio.
Hughes repeated that he doesn’t believe Cumia should’ve been fired over his profanity-laced tweets following the attack against him in Times Square and maintained that he fought to keep him on the show with SiriusXM management.
“But what Ant did last night… was just completely and utterly uncalled for, period,” Hughes said.
Hughes proclaimed that he’s proud of what he and Cumia accomplished together with “The Opie and Anthony Show,” saying they had an “amazing run.” Later in the show, though, he was more clear about his feelings.
"I hope Ant does well for himself, I really do. Don't like you. I'm not going to sit here and make believe I do -- I don't like you. And it's a shame because I know what we used to have, but I just wish, you know, you could just f***ing move on," Hughes said.
Listen to the segment via SiriusXM below (Warning: strong language)
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