FIGHTING WITH “PIG VIRUS”

FIGHTING WITH "PIG VIRUS"

March 31, 2006
Gary brought up that the next clip was of Howard getting into an altercation with John Hayes, a man better known as “Pig Virus,” an incident that was immortalized in “Private Parts.” Ralph recalled that, although on-air arguments are commonplace today, he had to pull over the car he was driving when the piece initially aired because it was so new at the time. Gary then pointed out that the fight occurred roughly two weeks before Howard was fired from WNBC. In the tape, Howard complained because John wouldn’t provide a microphone for the show and proceeded to call him “scum” because of it. To discuss the matter, Howard got John’s secretary, Rosemary, on the phone to see if he could talk directly to her boss. However, Rosemary insisted that John was in a meeting, so he couldn’t talk to Howard. Gary and a former show member, Al Rosenberg, then went to John’s office and reported that John appeared to really be in a meeting because there was a privacy sign hanging on his door. When Gary and Al knocked on John’s door, he answered it and told them that he’d be happy to have a talk with Howard later in the day when it was convenient for both of them. Because Howard wasn’t satisfied with John’s response, he walked to his office himself and attempted to interview him on the telephone. Once he arrived at his office, Howard noted that John wasn’t holding a meeting, but was instead alone at his desk doing work. John responded to Howard’s presence by sarcastically saying that he was doing “great radio,” before adding, “What a bit.” Howard announced that John proceeded to slam the door on him, which led him to call John “an idiot scum.” After Howard continued to yell at John through his door, Howard commented that John came back out of his office, called him a douche bag and pushed him. Robin replied that she thought the police should be called since John was getting physical. Following the tape, Gary noted that John had been building a case to fire Howard and that he felt that was the incident that finalized his decision to do it.