St. Louis Radio: Hubbard Fires Tony Patrico After Women Complain

Tony Patrico no longer with KPNT

 A KPNT 105.7 FM personality has been fired after two social media accounts began alleging that he asked listeners in text messages to send him nude or suggestive photos.

Tony Patrico, a sidekick on “The Rizzuto Show” on KPNT (105.7 FM), aka “The Point,” became the target of both a Facebook account and and a Twitter account which were created shortly before Christmas.

Shortly after 10 a.m., the show’s Twitter account posted the following statement:

pic.twitter.com/Hokotifyex

— The Rizzuto Show (@RizzShow) January 4, 2023

“Tony Patrico is no longer with Hubbard Radio or a member of The Rizzuto Show. The show returns as scheduled tomorrow at 6 a.m.”

Posts on the accounts — “HellNoPatrico” on Twitter and a “Robert Reynolds” page on Facebook — include screenshots of several text exchanges, dated from 2017 to 2022.

Some texts show Patrico asking female listeners to meet up with him or to send him nude or partially nude photos. Several also contain sexually suggestive comments.

In most instances, after the women decline or deflect his offer, Patrico tells the women that he was just kidding. He also asks some to keep the exchange private.

Patrico declined to comment to The St. Louis Post-Dispatch about the situation and directed questions to station management.

John Kijowksi, general manager of Hubbard-St. Louis, which owns KPNT and four other local stations, did not respond to a message left.

The person answering messages on the “Robert Reynolds” Facebook page, which has more than 300 followers, declined to comment about the site. The Twitter account has more than 400 followers.

The texts indicate that some of the listeners are members of “Team Rizz,” a listener-promotion group in which members can win free jerseys and on-air mentions.

Patrico became part of the station’s morning show in 2014, joining Scott Rizzuto. Subsequently, the station added Moon Valjean and Jeff Burton to the roster. When Burton died in August, King Scott joined the line-up.

The show has been a constant during KPNT’s rise in the Nielsen ratings; the station consistently appears in the top five every month.

Along with KPNT, Hubbard-St. Louis also operates classic rock KSHE (94.7 FM); country music WIL (92.3 FM); adult hits WARH (106.5 FM); and sports talk WXOS (101.1 FM), the area’s ESPN affiliate.