Em Rusciano returned to Southern Cross Austereo in April to launch a podcast on PodcastOne Australia, after having sensationally quit her job at 2Day FM in 2018.
And now the comedian has left the company once again, announcing to listeners on her Emsolation podcast this week that she’s going ‘fully independent’ next year.
The 41-year-old, who launched the podcast with TV writer Michael Lucas, will produce Emsolation by her own production company Em Rusciano Productions.
New chapter: Em Rusciano (pictured), 41, has left Southern Cross Austereo again, announcing that she’s going ‘fully independent’ next year… after sensationally quitting 2Day FM in 2018
‘The podcast is going fully independent next year. My production company is going to make it, I will wholly own it, it’s very exciting. The time is right,’ Em told listeners.
‘It’s a bit scary because basically that means I’m financially responsible for paying everyone; we’re hoping to get some great sponsors on board.
‘But to my patrons, this is where you definitely come into play. You’ll help us keep going next year as a female-led, fully independent podcast.’
New direction: The comedian told listeners on her Emsolation podcast this week, that she will be producing the podcast by her own production company Em Rusciano Productions, and no longer under SCA’s PodcastOne Australia. Pictured on SCA’s 2Day FM
Em also revealed that the podcast will drop down to one episode per week, from two, as things are picking up for her work-wise.
The former radio presenter launched Emsolation in April to provide some form of relief and entertainment for Australians while under intense lockdown.
‘I’m hoping to provide a small pocket of escape and a bit of fun for people during these self-isolating times,’ Em said in a statement at the time.
Busy: ‘The podcast is going fully independent next year. My production company is going to make it, I will wholly own it, it’s very exciting. The time is right,’ Em told listeners. The podcast will drop down to one episode per week, from two, as things are picking up for her work-wise
‘It allows me to channel my energy as a force for good, rather than use it to criticise the way my husband chews his food.’
Southern Cross Austereo’s head of podcasting, Grant Tothill, seemingly alluded to Em’s ‘diva’ reputation as he introduced the program.
‘If you want to get some real relief from your isolation with campy monologues and diva dissections that you didn’t know you needed, listen to Emsolation,’ he said.
Diva reports: Meanwhile, Em has admitted to acting like a ‘petulant toddler’ and being unprofessional while hosting 2Day FM’s Sydney breakfast show from 2017 to 2018
Em has admitted to acting like a ‘petulant toddler’ and being unprofessional while hosting 2Day FM’s Sydney breakfast show from 2017 to 2018.
She told the Shameless podcast in July last year that she had felt ‘ripped off’ when Grant Denyer and Ed Kavalee were drafted in as co-hosts by SCA management.
‘[After] Ed and Grant came on, two people that I hadn’t worked with, the direction of the show changed and it had to change because they [2Day FM executives] wanted to try something else,’ Em said.
Em didn’t like the direction the show was going after it was rebranded from ‘The Em Rusciano Radio Show’ to ‘2Day FM Breakfast With Em, Grant and Ed’.
Change of pace: Em didn’t like the direction the show was going after it was rebranded from ‘The Em Rusciano Radio Show’ to ‘2Day FM Breakfast With Em, Grant and Ed’
She dealt with her frustrations by ‘acting out’ in the workplace and refusing to play along with certain segments.
‘I guess I started acting like a petulant toddler, saying, “No, I don’t want to do that, that’s not what we agreed.” I was saying no a lot at work,’ she explained.
According to Em, she had to ‘swallow a lot of the s**t’ she was feeling about the show’s content, which ‘was not what [she’d] chosen to do’.
Em didn’t realise her anger was a problem until management pulled her aside to let her know she ‘was making everyone really uncomfortable’.
‘That’s not what I agreed to do’: Em said in July last year that she had felt ‘ripped off’ when Grant Denyer (right) and Ed Kavalee (left) were drafted in as co-hosts by SCA management