Spike Eskin began his Wednesday afternoon radio show on 94WIP in Philadelphia by addressing the scandal featuring his father, Howard Eskin.
Earlier this week, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported WIP radio host and longtime sports media staple Howard Eskin was banned from attending Phillies home games at Citizens Bank Park for the rest of the season. WIP parent company Audacy confirmed the suspension in a brief statement.
According to the statement, the decision was made following an internal investigation after an Aramak employee accused Eskin of giving an “unwelcome kiss” in May. The Philadelphia 76ers reportedly plan to ban Eskin from their facilities as well. Eskin has not publicly addressed the scandal, but Wednesday afternoon, his son did.
“There is a story out there about my dad,” Spike Eskin began on his afternoon radio show alongside Ike Reese and Jack Fritz. “You probably read it, you probably heard about it. The truth, though, is that he and I are different people who do different things.
“Even though he did this job and I do this job, I am not him, he is not me. I think we have made that very clear over the years, for better or for worse. So, I don’t feel comfortable at all speaking on the issue itself, as I would not if it was anybody else here at WIP. It is his issue with the radio station and the people involved, it is not my issue.
“So as far as this show goes, and as far as I go, we are going to this show exactly as we always do. There will be no difference. Things will go as they do. And from this point on, that’ll be it out of me.
“The reason for that is because I feel it’s the right thing to do, the respectful thing to do, and truthfully this 4 hours out of my day is the highlight of my day. And I feel like this show is my escape from everything else…I felt like it was the right thing to say something, but that’s about all I can, or will say.”
And with that, it was “onto the Birds” as Eskin promptly moved on from his father’s scandal and introduced an Eagles topic for the show to discuss.
Even with the swift redirection to the Eagles, this was a more than appropriate way for Spike Eskin to address the matter. He did not need to comment on the specific allegations or speak on his father’s job status.
The younger Eskin is right. He is not his dad. This is not his scandal, nor should it be his responsibility to address it. It would have been his responsibility to address it if he was still the station’s program director, but Spike departed that position in 2021.
As the station’s afternoon host, however, Spike Eskin knows attempting to avoid the topic altogether would have welcomed even more questions about it from callers. And after already fielding those questions on social media, he aptly acknowledged his father’s scandal and promptly moved on.
[WIP]
