Baseball legend Yogi Berra once famously quipped “it’s déjà vu all over again.”
That sufficiently sizes up the turbulent atmosphere at the “Rickey Smiley Morning Show.” Just one year after ultra-popular co-host Ebony Steele was fired under extremely conspicuous and questionable circumstances, Claudia Jordan has been reportedly terminated after replacing Steele in the co-host chair.
The inside source who relayed to this Atlanta Daily World writer said several factors may have played a part in her unceremonious dismissal from the show:
1. Ratings are down in many markets, and when that happens, casualties begin to pile up. Despite the fact that RSMS’s audience has risen among older listeners, I was told the ratings have begun a descent among the younger, prized demographic that advertisers covet and cater to.
2. It doesn’t help that RSMS ranked 13th overall and among the all-important 18-to-34-year-old demographic. The “Rickey Smiley Morning Show” fell from a 7.2, good for second place, in June 2014 to a 4.6 last month. That places RSMS in 7th place.
3. Rumors are once again surfacing that Smiley was perturbed that fans and photographers were clinging to a popular co-star. People flocked to Jordan whenever she made public appearances at events and red carpets, which was very often. Many pop culture observers remarked that Smiley had the same issue with Ebony Steele, who was extremely popular and stayed in the public eye with her own foundations, business interests and red carpet appearances.
However, the most damning evidence of a possible rift between Smiley and Jordan may have come within the last couple of weeks when Smiley posted a long rant about ungrateful colleagues and people eating “off of him” without showing proper deference. He didn’t name anyone specifically, but you can probably connect the dots. Smiley has since deleted the social media rant, but screenshots enabled my inside source to send me the entire open letter. Take a look:
From Rickey Smiley:
“It kills me when you give people opportunity and the disrespect I have to deal with daily, my entire career. Being no nonsense and not taking shi from anyone is not bipolar. Saying no to someone isn’t being mean. I got folks who eat off me, get paid for what they do and can walk in the studio in they feelings [sic] about nothing… sounds good on the air. If you only knew. It’s not just white people that have entitlement issues smfh. All I do here is provide opportunities for people, come to work happy every day, work hard and have to deal with S on and off the air. The devil IS a lie. It’s all good because I appreciate the ones that’s respectful and loyal and trying to make these radio and tv dreams come true. So instead of mistreating an employer that provides an opportunity for you to have a career, if what he provides is not enough, then start your own. Simple. #entitlement.
