‘I Have Metamorphosed; I Am Not a Caricature’ : Q & A with TOM LEYKIS

People don’t have lukewarm feelings about Tom Leykis.

His bombastic talk-radio persona attracted a loyal following during the four years he was heard at KFI-AM (640). He also incited the fervent ire of detractors and was unceremoniously fired in September, 1992.

Leykis was at large for seven months before landing a job as a talk - show host on Boston’s WRKO-AM. He was there for nearly a year and during that time had a much-publicized arrest on charges that he assaulted his wife following a night of drinking at the station’s Christmas party.

Starting today , Leykis , 37, will be heard once again on the local airwaves when he launches a daily syndicated talk show, produced by Westwood One Inc. and broadcast here on KMPC-AM (710) from 3-7 p.m. It will also be heard on 20 other stations around the country.

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Question: How does it feel to return to the Southern California airwaves?

Answer: It feels like I never left. But if you had told me a year ago that I would be doing this, I never would have believed it. I must say, coming back I really appreciate it a lot more. I never realized how many friends I had here and how much support I had here. I wondered after a year and half if people would even remember. . . . Every place I go now I can’t get away from people asking, “What happened to you?” and, “When will you be on next?” How nice that people still care. I’m not going to try to be cool. I was really touched by that.

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Q: Will you be taking pot shots at your former station and particularly the two men (John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou) who ultimately replaced you?

A: I’ll be commenting on them when warranted and I expect it will be warranted on a frequent basis. The bottom line is they suck and their ratings are about what mine were when I left. Frankly, anybody can do a talk show where five minutes before the show starts, you say, “OK, you’re in favor of Rodney King getting $80 million and I’m against. Good. Now, remember that’s your part. This is my part.” And the show sounds like it. It’s totally contrived controversy. The way I look at that radio station is it’s a bunch of contrivances. It just sounds like a you-make-some-snot-nosed-comment-and-wait-for-the-phone-to-ring kind of format.

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Q: Can you briefly explain what happened at KFI that led to your firing?

A: I can’t explain because, frankly, I put that all in the past now. I’m a very happy man. All the differences of the past have been settled.

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Q: Such reserve is not like you. I understand you’re precluded from saying anything because of the terms of your termination agreement.

A: I have nothing left to say about KFI. Except that their worst nightmare is that I would come back to Los Angeles and have to compete with them.

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Q: How will your new show differ from the Tom Leykis show we remember on KFI?

A: I have metamorphosed. I am not a caricature. I will not get locked into some contrived, phony personality, so people are going to hear a different Tom Leykis on the radio this time in a variety of ways. I don’t have to work as hard at getting everybody’s attention now. People pretty much know who I am and what I am. So I can do it more now by having a good show every day than by having to shriek to get your attention all the time.

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Q: What will your new show be like?

A: The format will be similar to what people are familiar with, but with new elements added in. We’ll still have all the national controversies and all the relationship issues that we had but also celebrity guests that no one else is getting. The idea is to have the biggest variety and be unpredictable so people don’t know from day to day what we’re going to do. It’s a show that would be comfortable on AM or FM and aimed at a younger demographic than most talk radio.

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Q: You’ve been off Los Angeles radio for 18 months. Do you think the audience you had at KFI will follow you?

A: In radio it doesn’t matter if you’re on or off. You’ve got to earn the audience every day. Look around at the battlefield of L.A. radio and all the bodies strewn about, look at all the people who had good runs here who now can’t get arrested. I think you have to be willing to change with the times and work hard every day. In this city I don’t think there is any personality who could walk on and get an audience just because he’s there. We’re not going to get an audience based on what I did for five years at KFI. We’re going to get an audience because we’re going to have the most exciting, controversial and interesting show on the air at that time. If we don’t do that, it doesn’t matter what I did before.

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Q: What is the appeal of talk radio?

A: You turn on talk radio to see what other people have to say, what other people think. People want to know if they’re crazy or if the way they feel is reflected in the opinions of others. . . . Talk shows used to be simply didactic exchanges among the intelligentsia. The success of Howard Stern and Rush Limbaugh has really made for change in talk radio. Now the host doesn’t have to give the appearance of being a college professor or attorney. The host can be an entertainer.

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Q: You had a much-publicized arrest in Boston over a physical altercation with your wife. What exactly happened?

A: What happened in short was my wife and I literally got into a stupid, silly shoving match, much like “Oh yeah?” “Oh yeah?” Silly. Nobody was injured. Nobody went to the hospital. Nobody was cut. Anyway, we’re in this state and my wife says, “You’re trying to kill me. I’m going to call the cops.” Now, my wife told me later on, “If you had just said, ‘I’m sorry,’ that would have been the end of it.” But what did I say? I said, “Go ahead” and went to bed. That’s the entire incident. Now I am suddenly awakened by a flashlight in my face. And unlike the usual domestic situation where the cops might come over and take one spouse into one room and the other in another, they asked me no questions, they did not read me my Miranda rights, they did not tell me what the charges were. They put me in handcuffs and took me to jail.

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Q: What was the resolution of the case?

A: I was charged with assault with a deadly weapon. They said that I cut her head with a glass in the police report. She says that’s not what happened. They followed through with the prosecution. They had a trial date set for the first week of March. My attorney said I could win this case hands down because my wife said in an affidavit presented to the court that what was alleged did not happen. But I told my attorney I had to be in L.A. to do this show. I couldn’t be flying back and forth testifying. So we agreed to have the case diverted, which means the charges were dropped and I will have no criminal record as long as I show up at counseling for a minimal period of time. That’s fine. That’s like traffic school. Get it over with. The bottom line is I was not convicted. I am not guilty of any crime and once I complete the counseling program there will be no record of this offense whatsoever.

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Q: There have been rumors that your on-air anger and intensity are very much with you in your personal life and that this incident was an example. How do you respond to that?

A: People who really know me--not people who sat at a desk down the hall from me--know that I get out whatever rage I have on the air and that in real life I’m really kind of a mellow, laid-back person. Sarcastic and cynical, but not angry.