Tony Patrico: Local radio host and dad-of-three fired after asking female fans to send him nudes
ST LOUIS, MISSOURI: Tony Patrico was fired for allegedly demanding nude photos and other suggestive pictures from his female followers on social media. These allegations originally surfaced just before Christmas, when Patrico, a local radio host of 'The Rizzuto Show,' in St Louis, Missouri, was the focus of accounts created on Facebook and Twitter.
The St Louis Post-Dispatch reported that both accounts posted screenshots of text messages with dates spanning from 2017 to 2022. The initial screenshots were posted on December 19 by the Twitter user @HellNoPatrico. Later, on December 21, a Facebook page with the name Robert Reynolds started uploading the screenshots. Many of the allegedly offensive messages sent by Patrico were included in those screenshots. Other screenshots allegedly showed Patrico asking for inappropriate images. Many times when Patrico's requests were turned down, he claimed that he was joking. Some of the women were also asked by Patrico to keep their conversations private.
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Several of the texts revealed that the women Patrico interacted with were part of 'Team Rizz,' a team that promoted 'The Rizzuto Show.' The show's Twitter account published the following statement just after 10 am that read, "Tony Patrico is no longer with Hubbard Radio or a member of The Rizzuto Show. The show returns as scheduled tomorrow at 6 am."
Patrico started working with Scott Rizzuto on the station's morning show in the year 2014. The show that aired on January 3 began with the announcement that "Patrico is out today" at the thirty-minute mark. He was apparently off-air at the time.
Shortly after the statement was tweeted by the show, Rizzuto, the host of the show, released an audio statement via Youtube. He claimed that the scenario concerned "a personnel situation," declining to discuss any particular allegations. He said, "Our listeners know Tony Patrico has not been here for the past couple days and now I would like to address the situation to the extent we can."
Rizzuto stated, "It was announced here at that radio station a couple minutes ago that Tony is no longer with Hubbard Radio or a member of the Rizzuto show. I'm speaking for all of us here, we're in complete shock... to say the last couple days have been difficult is the understatement of the century and we're still processing everything that's happened."
"We're sad... we're devastated, we've spoken to Tony, he is our friend but this is... really hard," Rizzuto added. "And again speaking for all of us here on the show, we have nothing but compassion and empathy for everyone involved in the situation."
The St Louis Post-Dispatch reports that 'The Rizzuto Show' has segments like 'Real or Fake,' where listeners are asked to send anonymous, faceless images of their bustlines, and 'Freak of the Week', which promotes sexually explicit personal advertising.