As you know, we’ve got a big winter storm hitting the Delaware Valley. It’s the storm of the century! Or maybe not. Just make sure you go out and get bread, eggs, and milk, so you can make french toast while snowed in.

At the same time Shaquille O’Neal was destroying Ben Simmons and a fan was getting tossed from the Sixers game, former FOX 29 and WCAU meteorologist John Bolaris was on Twitter going on a rampage. It begins with ALLEGATIONS that he called 94 WIP to share some weather knowledge, but nobody picked up the phone:

This isn’t the first time we’ve down this road. Bolaris went on a 2015 rant against WIP, claiming that he was banned and that only CBS talent is allowed to talk about the weather on the station. That is actually true, the second part of that, because WIP was owned by CBS Radio back then, and frequently cross-promoted with sister station CBS 3 Eyewitness News. They would put CBS meteorologists on their various local stations to give weather updates.

Fast forward seven years, and Bolaris is once again saying he’s being disrespected by WIP. Nobody will answer the phone or put him on the air. I’m not exactly sure what the problem is. It seems like he’s suggesting that he should be able to call up and give the weather forecast regardless of whether WIP wants it or not. He is offering a service they are not interested in.

It seemed like harmless venting, but then Bolaris named P.M. drive producer Jack Fritz in his series of blackballing accusations, which then incurred a response from Fritz colleague, Jon Johnson:


Well now, this is getting interesting. Here comes Johnson to claim that he checked the call log, and he’s saying Bolaris didn’t even call when Fritz was running the afternoon show, which on Thursday was anchored by Jon Marks and Joe Giglio.

Then there was this:

I contacted some sources, and best I can tell, John Bolaris has not been officially banned from 94 WIP, which is no longer affiliated with Eyewitness News and hasn’t been for several years now.

There may have been unwritten “please don’t put this guy on” kind of discussions, but the way I understand it, there was no station-wide decree. There was no email to the staff saying “attention: John Bolaris is not allowed to give the weather forecast on the air. Please do not put him on the air. Please call security if he shows up at the front door.” There’s no memo pinned to a studio cork board. That has not taken place, if super-secret Crossing Broad sources are to be believed. It seems like the Bolaris thing is more like a shadow ban, i.e. you’re blocked but it wasn’t some big announcement and nobody really cares that much.

Anyway, Bolaris then continued on Twitter, saying this:

“These kids at WIP just don’t know the backbone of Philly it’s not them it’s you the listeners & they want to be entertained .. do they really think it’s all about what they think ? No it’s about Philadelphia & the melting pot young & old .. & reaching an audience on all levels”

…

“Listen I love this city & my passion for wx is real & beyond anyone else in town .. so when we have a challenge weather wise i naturally want to talk about it .. not for anything else except for to tell you all what’s really going on with NO news director breathing down my neck”

Anyway, John wrapped it up with a series of tweets obliterating Angelo Cataldi:

Happy Friday morning.