God’s Gangster Riles Again

Frank Matthews, the former talk show host turned mayoral flunky, is causing a stir again. On Friday Matthews got into an on-air shouting match with talk show host Matt Murphy, ranting and raving on WAPI’s airwaves for about five minutes before Murphy hung up on him.

Murphy said today that Matthews had been cordial with him off the air, but once on the show, the two of them began talking over each other. Murphy said that, after listening to the recording, he still couldn’t make out everything Matthews was saying.

“It sounds like he called me a fat pig and a fat slob, but we’re not sure if he challenged me a debate or a fight,” Murphy said.

Murphy said he invited Matthews on the show after a John Archibald column ran in the Birmingham News. That column accused Matthews of taking political payola from Mayor Larry Langford while Matthews hosted a paid-programming show on WAPI. After the election, Mayor Langford appointed Matthews to his current job at Birmingham City Hall.