Ralph Cirella Criticized for His Handling of Bobo’s Suspension

Bobo has been suspended from calling into the Stern Show since January, but a recent rambling voicemail from the Wack Packer has brought the situation back into the spotlight.

“If you put a gun to my head, I would not be able to tell you why we banned Bobo, but it has been rather pleasant,” Howard said Tuesday of the longtime caller, who was told he couldn’t participate in on-air discussions after attempting to quit the Wack Pack.

“It was three months minimum, six months maximum, and the first thing he was supposed to do was change his name from Bobo to … [Steve the Fool from Florida],” Howard’s stylist Ralph Cirella, who was put in charge of Bobo’s punishment, explained. “He didn’t do that so it’s six months.”

According to staffer Jonathan Blitt, Ralph has failed in his role overseeing Bobo. “I’ve learned from Ralph that he makes up any excuse not to do any work,” he complained to Howard. “He was so difficult to work with. Every phone call turned into half an hour of the problem with this premise … He would always just make an excuse, and another excuse, and another excuse.”

While Ralph argued he took the job seriously, even creating a separate email account for corresponding with Bobo, Blitt was not impressed. “He was like, ‘You email Bobo, you do this, you do that,’” he recalled. “I was like, ‘Ralph, this is your job. You came up with the idea, it’s on you. You can’t put your work on me.’ … Ban Ralph from the show, that’s what I think we need to do.”

Expressing regret for trusting Ralph, Howard assigned Mariann from Brooklyn to take over keeping a watchful eye on Bobo. “Mariann from Brooklyn reporting for duty,” the Wack Packer gleefully replied over the phone. “I’ll think of a different punishment—we’ve got to get him back sometime at the end of April.”

Actor Michael Rapaport, who has defended Bobo in the past, called in once again to stand up for him. “I really feel like the abuse that my guy Bobo takes … it needs to stop,” he said before boldly stating he’d even put Bobo in his third slot for the Wack Pack Mount Rushmore.

When he’s not sticking up for Bobo and acting in the Hulu shows “Only Murders in the Building” and “Life & Beth,” Michael has been busy guest-hosting “The Wendy Williams Show.” “They asked me to do it once. I was obviously fantastic at it. And then they asked me to come back and host a week again and, I mean, I was even better,” he told Howard of the semi-regular gig. “It’s a lot of fun … The excitement and the sort of thrill of knowing you’re on live TV is unlike anything else.”