Howard Eskin Remaining on the Air After “Unwanted Advance” Toward Female Aramark Employee a Barometer for Cancel Culture in 2024

Ximena Conde at the Inquirer reports that Howard Eskin was banned from Citizens Bank Park after allegedly pulling a Joe Namath:

Howard Eskin, the longtime Philadelphia broadcaster, has been barred from Citizens Bank Park for the remainder of the Phillies season after an investigation found he made an unwanted advance toward a female Aramark employee in May.

According to sources, an Aramark employee accused the 73-year-old Eskin of giving her an unwanted kiss at the ballpark, which resulted in an investigation. A spokesperson for Audacy, the parent company of WIP-FM and Eskin’s employer, confirmed the “unwelcome kiss” in a statement, adding the company takes these matters very seriously.

“We immediately investigated and took action to address the matter,” read the Audacy spokesperson’s statement, declining to comment further.

Eskin will remain on air, according to sources. Phone calls to Eskin were not immediately returned.

…

Eskin allegedly tried to kiss the woman as she backed away.

Conde reports that the incident took place before a Phillies game in the area formerly known as the Diamond Club, which reinforces what I’ve been telling you for years now, that Howard isn’t there to do any reporting. He’s there to see and be seen, to grandstand and hog the mic and now allegedly make unwanted advances towards female employees before leaving after the second inning.

So we’ve always known that Howard is a fraud, now you throw this incident into the mix.

My first reaction was that if you or I did something like this, we’d probably be fired. It would be categorized as sexual harassment, and we’d be shitcanned immediately. Why? Because incidents like these are handled with much more seriousness in the #MeToo era, regardless of whether you were actually being a perv or simply trying to hit on a woman and misread the situation. Only Howard and the Aramark employee know whether this was lecherous or just awkward.

Regardless, the cancel culture people will come out of the cracks, justified or not. You gotta think Audacy is gonna take some heat for keeping Howard on the air. What’s the benefit anyway? You get two hours from a washed 73 year old on Saturday mornings and then he pops up a few times during the week to spew the same cornball shit he always does. Joel Embiid is “soft,” the Process was a “joke,” and person X is a nitwit, moron, and dope. At the same time, the Eagles can do no wrong and are the greatest franchise in the history of the world. He doesn’t actually add anything to the WIP product in 2024, unless carrying water for the local football team counts.

I’m curious as to what comes next. Does the King get pressured into an apology? Does Audacy get blasted with emails and phone calls? Does Goldey-Beacom College take back Howard’s honorary degree? How does it affect his presence at Eagles games? I would assume that the average WIP caller doesn’t give a flying shit about this. And Howard has his legion of supporters who already didn’t care about various past transgressions, like the defaming of Allen Iverson’s attorney and the ensuing suspension that came from that. As such, there’s no real damage that can be done to 94 WIP. They can’t lose female listeners because they don’t have any besides Eagles Shirley. They’ll take some criticism in the immediacy, but just like the DeSean Jackson apology demand of several weeks ago, this too will probably just go away.

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