DJ COMMUNITY

Hot 97 fires host Cipha Sounds after he criticized management on podcast

The New York City radio staple had said he was blindsided by station's abrupt announcement that it hired Nessa Nitty as the permanent afternoon host to replace him.

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Tuesday, January 27, 2015, 3:22 PM

JOHNNY NUNEZ/WIREIMAGECipha Sounds, pictured in 2009, is out at Hot 97.

Radio station Hot 97 has fired longtime host Cipha Sounds, less than a day after he criticized management on a podcast for the way it handled his removal as interim afternoon host.

Cipha Sounds, who had been with WQHT (97.1 FM) for 17 years, began hosting the 3-7 p.m. slot soon after Angie Martinez jumped to rival WWPR (105.1 FM) last summer.

The station announced last week it has hired Nessa Nitty as the permanent afternoon host, while Cipha would remain in other unspecified positions.

On Monday’s popular “Juan Epstein” podcast, talking with Hot-97 morning cohost Peter Rosenberg, Cipha said he was blindsided by his removal and wished he had been considered for the permanent position.

“Our corporate bosses don’t know me,” he said, adding that he didn’t know if he would remain with the station.

Early Tuesday afternoon, WQHT answered that question, issuing a blunt statement that said, “Effective immediately, Cipha Sounds is no longer with WQHT. We wish him well on his future endeavors.”

When Rosenberg suggested Cipha had never seemed enthusiastic about the afternoon slot, Cipha said, “I never knew if it was mine. If I could make it mine, I would’ve loved it.

“One boss told me one thing, another boss told me another thing, they then fired one of those bosses, another boss came in an told me one things, and then a boss of another station came in and became our boss and told me another thing. All nice people, all different opinions on what the show should be and how it should run.”

Even if he had known he would have had the position for only a finite period of time, he said, “I could have turned it into a running bit. A countdown.”

He stressed that he had no quarrel with Nitty, saying they spoke and “I told her, ‘You’re a dope choice.’ She was mad cool.”

What he did resent, he said, was that he never knew the station was pursuing her.

“They’ve wanted her for a long time,” he told Rosenberg. “They have a hard-on for her. So then why didn’t you tell me?”

He said his own future with Hot 97 clouded over when there were changes to the morning show that Rosenberg said “reduced [Cipha] to a glorified mixer.”

Cipha eventually left the morning show, and he said he rejected a recent overture to return.

Cipha also said on the podcast that he received a job offer from Power before Martinez made the jump, but stayed at Hot-97 out of loyalty.

Hot 97 has undergone a number of changes over the last few months, including hiring a new program director.

It has also slipped slightly behind Power in the ratings.

Cipha’s departure leaves evening host Funkmaster Flex as the primary link to the station’s groundbreaking past.