Sports talk host Greg Giannotti makes headlines for rant defending those battling mental illness
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Greg Giannotti, a sports talk host at WFAN in New York who formerly worked at 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh, made headlines after ripping a caller who minimized mental health issues in an on-air rant Tuesday.
The tirade prompted Giannotti’s co-host, former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason, to walk out of the studio without saying a word.
The caller, identified as Bill from Connecticut, called Giannotti “soft” and said he needed to “suck it up,” referring to mental health issues the host has previously discussed, including a panic attack.
This set off Giannotti.
“I’ve gone to therapy. I’m on two different medications. I’m trying my best to get through the things I have wrong with me. And you’re telling me to suck it up?” Giannotti said. “I mean, this is why you get a lot of people who go through real trauma, who are out in wars and come back here and kill themselves, because they were told to suck it up. Because of guys like you, Bill in Connecticut.”
Gregg Giannotti has raw response to ignorant caller who belittled mental illness pic.twitter.com/8nt2q3sVkX
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 7, 2023
Twice during the tirade WFAN abruptly played a few seconds of music, presumably because Giannotti used profanity.
“The last thing that people are that confront to their mental issues to have a better life for them and their families is soft. That’s the last f’n thing,” Giannotti said. “’I’m of the old school.’ No, you’re not. You’re an idiot. You’re an idiot who hasn’t developed.”
There was no on-air confrontation between hosts, and Esiason was back in his seat when the show resumed after a commercial break, but Giannotti did comment on Esiason leaving the studio.
“Well, he can’t handle it either,” Giannotti said. “Quite frankly, he doesn’t understand mental health to save his life. That’s a big problem. It’s a big problem.”