'Matty In The Morning' Quits Long-Running KISS 108 Show

BOSTON — Matt Siegel, one of the most successful deejays in Boston's radio-rich history, walked off the air saying he was quitting his long-running "Matty In The Morning" show on KISS 108 Wednesday.

Update: Siegel Back On Kiss-108 Day After 'Quitting'

Siegel was complaining on air that he had been told to stop making jokes about Demi Lovato's new non-binary status.

"I am the biggest of all time and they said, 'Shut Up Matt, stop talking,'" Siegel, 71, said. "Well I hope you're happy, because I just stopped talking. Matty out."

There were conflicting reports whether Siegel would be back on the station Thursday, leaving listeners confused and sponsors worried. Station manager Alan Chartrand downplayed the incident to The Boston Globe, saying "everything is going to be fine." But when the newspaper asked Siegel in a text message if he would be on air Thursday, he said "No."

"This is why I got rich, okay?" Siegel said on air. "Because I told it like it is to my listeners for 40 bleepin’ years. They pulled the plug on me and they said, ‘You cannot talk about what you’re talking about.'"

A listener posted audio of the blow-up on Twitter:

Siegel, who lives in Newton, said "it's nothing personal" and "I like my boss" several times before walking off the air. He also apologized to his co-hosts for "putting you in this position."

"But I was told by my boss I cannot talk about what I want to talk about — by the way it's a joke, the whole binary thing. I don't care what Demi Lovato does," Siegel said. "But now we have to worry about 'You might offend someone' ... I am the biggest of all time and they said 'Shut up Matt.'"

"Matty In The Morning" made its debut on Jan. 12, 1981, and Siegel outlasted other, high-profile deejays who mixed discussion about current events and artist interviews with music. Over the past 20 years, Siegel's show has been a ratings juggernaut and consistently been the highest-rated Boston radio show among women ages 18 to 49.

The show has 450,000 weekly listeners. In addition to a cast of regular co-hosts and characters, Siegel's guest have included Oprah Winfrey, Madonna, Bette Midler, Cher, Tom Hanks, Rosie O’Donnell and Michael J. Fox.