Em Rusciano quit 2Day FM’s breakfast show more than two years ago, and it seems the circumstances surrounding her exit still weigh heavily on her mind.
During an Instagram Q&A on Thursday, the 42-year-old was asked by one of her followers to name the ‘biggest a**hole’ in Sydney radio.
Her answer was actually quite surprising.
Exposed: Former 2DayFM star Em Rusciano exposed the ‘biggest a**hole’ in Sydney radio more than years after her ill-fated stint at the network in an Instagram Q&A on Thursday
Instead of naming a former colleague or executive, Em called herself out for her own behaviour at 2Day FM.
‘A lot of people who worked with me would say me,’ she admitted with a laugh.
‘But that’s been well documented,’ the comedian added, referring to the multiple reports about her ‘difficult’ behaviour at the station.
However, Em didn’t let Sydney’s media identities off the hook that easily.
Outing herself: ‘A lot of people who worked with me would say me,’ she admitted, before laughing. ‘But that’s been well documented’
She teased fans about the possibility of naming and shaming the most toxic people in radio at a later date.
‘In all honesty there we so many [a**holes]. And some would surprise you,’ she said.
‘I wish… One day I’ll answer this honestly.’
Lashed out: Em spoke about her ill-fated stint as a breakfast host on 2Day FM in February. In since deleted posts, the 41-year-old shared her experience of having her tone ‘policed’
Back in February, Em publicly lashed out at 2Day FM in a series of Instagram posts, which she subsequently deleted.
She shared her experience of having her tone ‘policed’ by colleagues.
‘I was constantly told I was angry, I needed to be nicer to people, I needed to smile more and my tone was policed,’ she said.
‘I was constantly told I was angry, I needed to be nicer’: Em claimed it was an ‘exhausting’ time made worse by having a miscarriage and being told the format of her show would be changing
‘I was under this microscope the whole time. Meetings would be on a screen and if I didn’t smile the whole time, there would be three emails about what’s going on with Em,’ she added.
Em claimed it was an ‘exhausting’ time made worse by having a miscarriage and being told the format of her show would be changing.
She also alleged her colleagues ‘were leaking bulls**t stories about me’ to the press, and felt there was an overall ‘really toxic work environment’ at the Southern Cross Austereo-owned station.
Allegations: She also alleged her colleagues ‘were leaking bulls**t stories about me’ to the press, and felt there was an overall ‘really toxic work environment’ at the station
For her part, Em acknowledged her own behaviour at 2Day FM ‘wasn’t great’, but said no one around her was willing to ‘cut me any slack’.
‘I’m still dealing with it all but I feel like I understand it a bit better,’ she concluded.
Em was hired to host 2Day FM’s breakfast show in 2017, alongside Harley Breen.
In September 2018, she announced she was leaving the show in order to focus on having a baby.
Before her departure, multiple reports alleged employees had left 2Day FM and others were looking for new jobs due to Em’s ‘attitude’.
‘Things are at breaking point, people just cannot work with her energy. There have been… casualties at the hands of Em Rusciano,’ a source said at the time.
Radio stint: Em was hired to host 2Day FM’s breakfast show in 2017, alongside Harley Breen. Harley later quit and was replaced by Ed Kavalee (left) and Grant Denyer (right). Em threw in the towel in September 2018
In May 2018, Em herself admitted she could ‘turn’ if she felt slighted by colleagues.
‘Something just goes in my eyes and I become a different person. So I’m not very good at crescendoing my moods,’ she told Wil Anderson’s Wilosophy podcast.
During that same interview, Em also complained about her co-hosts Grant Denyer and Ed Kavalee, who had been drafted in to replace Harley Breen in late 2017.
She said: ‘I, all of a sudden, got two co-hosts that I’d never really met or spoken to, and then I’m expected to have this instant chemistry with.’
Em added that she took a ‘big ego hit’ upon discovering she no longer had top billing on the show.
‘It was just hectic,’ she said. ‘It was The Em Rusciano Radio Show. It was my show, and all of a sudden Ed’s anchoring, the show’s called The 2Day FM Breakfast Show.’