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“There’s Really Not a Lot of a Drama in this Situation” – Tyrone Johnson Talks About his 97.5 the Fanatic Departure

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: May 1st, 2025 · 9:47 AM EDT

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We would be remiss if we didn’t share the YouTube session that Tyrone Johnson did following his 97.5 the Fanatic departure:

Tyrone reiterated several times that he was thankful for all of the messages he received, noting that he didn’t have an opportunity to say goodbye to listeners. That was the main reason for getting on YouTube.

Some CliffsNotes:

• Tyrone says he was called into the office after Friday’s show and told the Fanatic “was going in a different direction.” He says management was upfront about it and didn’t act “phony” and that it would have “stunk” if they were phony.
• He was well aware that he was on the chopping block as early as last summer – “Yes the decision was made a while ago, and I was aware of it.“
• Johnson isn’t “shocked” that it happened.
• He thanked former Vice President and Market Manager Joe Bell, who was in charge when Mike Missanelli first departed and the The Best Show Ever? was created. Johnson says Bell went to bat for him. He also thanked then-Program Director Chuck Damico for “taking the shot.”
• He shouted out Brodes, Jen Scordo, Ricky Bo, Sylvana Kelleher, Dylan MacKinnon, and “all of my other co-workers, who were tremendous, they worked really hard.”
• Tyrone noted a couple of times that seven years on PM drive in two different roles is a good run.
• He says that people were asking if management gave him an explanation for the change of direction. “I didn’t want an explanation, I didn’t need an explanation, no explanation was going to make it better, so again, I appreciate the way they went about it.”
• He asked people to stay away from race and doesn’t want to go that route.
• “There’s really not a lot of a drama in this situation, it was something that started in 2018 and it ends in 2025.”
• He doesn’t want people to have any ill will towards 97.5 the Fanatic or the remaining hosts. “I want you to support my co-workers because they didn’t make that decision.”
• He thinks he could have been more proactive, knowing that they were looking to move on from in. “I knew what was going on and I didn’t get out. That’s my own fault.”
• He apologized for blocking a lot of people on X.

It was an honest 13 minutes from Tyrone. Didn’t beat around the bush while noting that he’s “not overly wounded,” and it’s totally believable based on the tenor and tone of the clip. We’ll see what comes next for him. He did say that he’ll do some digital content now and then but take some time to figure his next move.