Craig Carton “What Have I Done?” card and deliver a warning in the process.
This week, WFAN afternoon drive co-host and former FAN talent John Jastremski had a chippy back and forth. It started when Karton Yastremski said he had “missed” his broadcasting advice and was taking shots at his former colleague’s career. Yastremski shot back and said he would rather get advice from people of “stature” like Carton. Carton, who claimed to have heard certain details for the first time, wondered what he had done wrong and said he liked Yastremski before making a veiled threat.
Speaking at Carton & Roberts on Friday, Carton said there was an “open door” to helping Yastremski as he began his career.
“When I told the story of trying to be a good guy and a good colleague and help a young career flourish, I think I suddenly left telling that story. [I’m seeing on Twitter], he called me these abusive words and told me to delete. If I want to get into this stupid fight, just go at me,” Carton said.
Jastremski, who left WFAN last year to host a New York Central podcast on the Spotify-owned Ringer for the Bill Simmons Network, reportedly joked to Carton that he was out of the business and working at McDonalds. Carton also said Yastremski’s role at SNY, which airs the Carton & Roberts simulcast, was a low-paying one, not a dedicated platform.
“Oh, I shot him with the curtain on his way to the podcast?” Carton asked innocently. “So we’re all thin skinned and insecure now? … He attacked me and told me to shut up and called me a fraud because I tried to help his career? I thought career-wise being on WFAN was better than being on any podcast. What are we talking about? Am I a bad person?
Carton also warned Yastremsky not to escalate.
“I like JJ,” she said. According to Awful Announcing. “If you want to make war, you choose the wrong person.”
Carton invited Jastremski to come to the show and drive it, but Jastremski was on vacation.
It all started when Carton joked that he didn’t think Yastremsky was still working at his job, addressing Yastremsky’s importance in the proverbial interview. Carton, who quipped that leaving WFAN “wasn’t the smartest career move,” joked that Yastremski was running McDonald’s and was unimpressed with the SNY role: “You see a lot of people at SNY, they’re paying $30 a shift. No joke, $30 a shift.”
Carton said he advised Yastremsky to say “NFL” instead of “National Football League” because, “No one says that. [It’s] Nails on the board.”
His “New York, New York” podcast, Yastremski responded to Karton.
“Number one: going after the people who work at McDonald’s?” Yastremski asked. “Who are you to do this?” Number Two: You’re insulting the multi-billion dollar company I work for. I have a great job, a great platform, a great producer. I have two great jobs, I might add. And you insult them both. By the way, you are on that network. Five days a week. And you are insulting this network. How stupid are you? I’m on when you’re taking photos of the people in the network you’re participating in. And I can tell you, it pays well. I’m fine.
“As for the career advice? What do you think?” he asked. “I listen to legends. Bill Simmons, have you heard of him? More valuable than you. Mike Francesa? My son Adam Schein? I won’t listen to a scammer. Well, you know? Go on a hike. Whatever?
Carton was convicted of fraud and spent more than a year in prison. Carton and two other investors were asked to invest in a plan to get tickets through industry contacts and clear their heads. Instead, Carton used the money, in part, to pay off his gambling debts.
After an early battle with ESPN New York’s “Michael Kay Show,” WFAN’s “Carton & Roberts” cemented its No. 1 spot in New York daytime drive-in sports.
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