Sirius host Bubba the Love Sponge received a call on Wednesday, October 3rd, at 3:15pm ET from a man who said that he "needed Bubba" because was ready to commit suicide.
The man provided a fake name, asked that his voice be masked to avoid detection, and requested that no attempts be made to trace his call. Nine minutes into the call, the caller revealed that he had a gun in his possession, and had made his teenage daughter leave his premises.
Listen to audio of this incident: [Part 1] [Part 2]
At that point, engineer David Rice contacted the phone service who was unable to trace the call, and local police. Forty minutes later, the man was calmed down sufficiently by Bubba, Brent Hatley and SpiceBoy (Matt Loyd). They were able to get his real name and phone number off the air, and alert authorities, who rushed to his Charlotte County, Florida home.
Yesterday, the Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. show received an emailed accolade from the Charlotte County, Florida Sheriff's Office for their ability to keep the caller on the line, calm him down, and provide the sheriff's office with an audio copy of the call.
The email also confirmed that the caller had a gun, and had been in a legitimate suicidal state.
"The DJs did an outstanding job of talking to the gentleman and keeping him calm," wrote the officer. "I can't go into details about the outcome of the call due to confidentiality concerns, but he is safe and sound."
Gin & Tonic Lounge has an incredible recount of what happened...
"As I drove, the story unfolded. The caller had lost his job, his wife and his daughter. He had large debts and little money. He was overweight, drunk and had a gun on his lap.Of all the people to call, this nut called Bubba.
Now usually, when I tune in, I expect to hear an interview with a UFC fighter, a porn star, or Bubba using a tazer to "shock the puss." This however, was something different.
...For nearly an hour and a half, without the assistance of caller ID to alert the police, Bubba and his crew pleaded, cajoled, and bargained with the man to put the gun down.
It was a struggle, and the man made several despondent declarations along the way. He was determined. He wanted only to get drunk and then blow his brains out on Bubba's show. He had been planning it for 8 days.
Could the whole thing have been a hoax? Sure, the thought crossed my mind. However the sense of urgency, and barely-contained panic indicated that this was real.
They tried everything, but eventually, after a great deal of time, Bubba's argument that a suicide on his show would cause him a great deal of pain and misery finally carried the day. The man, whose daughter was a teenager, didn't care that his death might hurt her. He didn't care about the rest of his family or his friends. However, the thought of hurting Bubba, in the end, saved his life."
As much as talk-radio talent tends to joke around and be crazy on the air, there's a social responsibility that each have. It comes with the territory. When someone calls in, desperate for help like this man, it's their "duty" (so to speak) to respond. And Bubba and crew did a phenomenal job. Not too many people can say they have had the direct involvement in saving someone's life... Bubba and everyone on his team, can.
Special thanks to the entire BTLS staff for not only doing what is right, but for getting the job done.
*sniffs*. Didnt read. I smell HACK bit. This is Bubba we are talking about.
uhhhh... bubba the "good samaritin" LOL
Stern pulled the same hack bit back in the 90's. What's next? Fake phone calls from the Electric Eel Man?
Not for nothing, but this wasn't a bit. I'm posting the audio in a second... listen for yourself.
When I saw the headline, I thought it was a bit, but if the sherrif is commending the show, I would assume legit. Looking forward to the audio.
Part 1 of the audio has just been posted.
Correct, this has been VERIFIED BY THE POLICE as NOT being a bit.
"Stern pulled the same hack bit back in the 90's." Uhhh..this was verified by the police. No Bit...and it seems like Bubba's was no bit either. Now please go back to listening to your morning zoo.
Thanks...
That's ironic. When every I hear Bubba, I want to blow my head off.
Hopefully since Bubba can't get his contract renewed, he'll come into the studio on his last day with his brown lunchbag and pull a R. Bud Dwyer on the air. That would be only day to listen to this hack dreck.
Part 2 of the audio has just been posted.
Listen for yourself, this truly was not a bit.
If its real im sure he will get alot of attention for it...show me a article showing that the police are confirming it....
If its real im sure he will get alot of attention for it...show me a article showing that the police are confirming it....
If this is NOT a bit then Bubba should be congratulated, but knowing what Bubba has done in the past I'm not so sure. Redding is right...if this is legit then there would be an article somewhere about it. The email in the story doesn't prove much - ANYONE could have written it.
This was a pretty shocking show... had me glued to the radio.. But the question comes to mind (like others), was it legit? We know that Bubba's looking to renew his contract..
Where the heck is the HooHoo post saying, "I invented the suicide call on radio Robin!"
Listening to this yesterday was the most riveting radio I've heard in years. I literally gave me chills.
This kinda thing is exactly why Bubba will be taking over 202 when the merger is done. What'd 0.0 do today? Oh yea, Tony slept on the air. Wow, glad you wackfags pay to listen to somebody sleep. Over here on Sirius, we are listening to a true hero save somebodies life. So how about ya'll try and get a life, b/c 0.0 are gonna be off the air soon enough.
Kudos to Bubba.
I only have XM, dont' care about the "shock jocks" but have to give credit when due. Doesn't mean I'm going to start tuning in, but hey, at least they showed they have some sort of a moral compass.
"This kinda thing is exactly why Bubba will be taking over 202 when the merger is done. What'd 0.0 do today? Oh yea, Tony slept on the air. Wow, glad you wackfags pay to listen to somebody sleep. Over here on Sirius, we are listening to a true hero save somebodies life. So how about ya'll try and get a life, b/c 0.0 are gonna be off the air soon enough."
Bubba won't even have a contract when the merger is done/if it gets done. Feed into that crap all you want but as boring and lame as Opie & Anthony are Bubba is ten times worse and has little talent. But if this is real I give him props.
this article was posted at 11:15am and it is now 5pm est....still no story about this...just like Howard with his fake phone calls bubba has learned from him and did the exact same thing...and enough with the 0.0 crap why do you care about ratings, they currently have 20 markets including xm....and Ant sleeping was great as was the time artie fell asleep on stern...you just dont like it because it happened on O&A
Really seems fake to me. A lot of jocks 'save' callers who are about to commit 'suicide'. I would like more evidence that it is real than some email. I mean we all know that Bubba, Howard, Mancow, and others who had a 'saved a suicidal caller' experience use those services that you pay to fake bits.
Another thing, you will notice from the article that the only people confirming it are Sirius Satellite Radio. Reliable source? Sirius claims to receive an email from the sherrif and we are supposed to call that a confirmation?
almost 6pm est.....no articles about it.....this is a total fake attempt at getting attention and in a small way it worked...good try bubba
the only suicide goin on here is ANY major market that actually thought 0.0 could produce numbers like the stern show
signed sincerely
-Las Vegas,Chicago,Detroit & Pittsburgh
also this happend on wednesday and this is friday? two days? why two days before we hear about this? i see a MAJOR spin operation going on.
FAKE RADIO:
Having an actor playing a "Stern Fan" who "attacks" you on your lame "walk over".
Wow, how pathetic is it when some guy saves a life and the "competition" has nothing better to do than yell "FAKE". Get a life, people.
If someone actually "needed Bubba" in order to not commit suicide then that person should /himself..... just sayin'
Bubba + Contract negotiation = bit.
My money is the caller was hired gun, electric eel perhaps, and fooled the cops as well.
Bit, bit bit. Hoax, hoax hoax and the poor cops got played. Thye have REAL crime and people to protect. Thanks for wasting the cop's time, Bubba.
If it were real, why did he HAVE to be on the air with the guy. He could have gone to BEST OF or commerical and 'helped' him.
Fake. Sad. Desperate. Stern should dump this loser.
The big suprise here is that the guy didn't just blow his head off while trying to struggle through bubba's piss poor show. Hero? Big fat zero.
"My shock jock show is better than yours..."
Did any of you "Hoax!" guys even listen to the audio? Be honest. Furthermore, have you guys ever listened to Bubba's show?
Is it fishy that Bubba was talking about a previous on-air suicide talk down right before this incident? Yes. But if this was acting, it was pretty damn good and worthy of the recognition. As an avid listener, the "contract negotiation" seems like more of a bit than this did. Truly interesting radio.
I don't listen to Bubba, and I don't really care, but you can't fake 40 minutes of what just happened. I really think these O&A fans claiming this is a fake need to listen to the tape and reevalutate themselves. There is nothing worse than a liar that lies to himself.
Ok, enough with the conspiracy theories... you have to understand that most media outlets don't really cover suicide attempts.
Number one, because the suicidal caller's identity was withheld from Ft. Myers, FL media (both TV and newspaper) by the Charlotte County, FL Sheriff's office, when they were contacted for confirmation.
Second, because it encourages wanna-bes because some suicide attempts can be a cry for attention (like how this caller wanted to give Bubba "radio gold" by doing it on the air).
Either way, if you must have major media attention confirm a story for you: NBC2 News picked it up...
http://www.nbc-2.com/articles/readarticle.asp?articleid=15079&z=3&p=
ABC-7 picked up on it as well... though the NBC-2 link above has video of it, along with an interview with producer Brent Hatley
http://www.abc-7.com/articles/readnews.asp?articleid=15079&z=2&p=
Here's another one, the Charlotte Sun Herald just picked up on it:
http://www.sun-herald.com/breakingnews.cfm?id=3562
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