On the subject of Caitlyn Jenner, WFAN radio host Joe Benigno apparently does not keep up with the Kardashians or pop culture in general.
When his broadcast partner Evan Roberts on the New York City AM and FM sports radio station this afternoon called attention to the “Call me Caitlyn” Annie Lebovitz photographed Vanity Fair cover and asked “is this real?,” Benigno chimed in with the following insight.
“She’s pretty good…her father’s a little messed up…She’s cute…how old is she?”
Roberts seemed not completely on top of the situation either, when he said “If I’m not mistaken, Caitlyn Jenner is the father.”
“Oh that’s Bruce? I thought that was one of his daughters…” Benigno admitted, in an apparent reference to Kendall and Kylie. “He does have cute daughters.”
Further awkward dialogue about the situation then ensued. “Thank God the show’s over,” an embarrassed Joe Benigno joked at the sign-off immediately proceeding Mike Francesa’s show .
During his ratings-leading broadcast, Francesa quipped that “I’m gonna go on the premise that Joe was teasing us, okay?”
As the entire world knows by now, and perhaps the breaking news wasn’t common knowledge when Joe and Evan were finishing up their daily sports show shortly before 1 p.m. Eastern time today, former Olympic gold medalist Bruce Jenner, 65, has now been reintroduced as Caitlyn Jenner on the cover of the July issue of Vanity Fair with an accompanying feature story on Jenner’s transition from male to female. An upcoming docuseries on E! will also detail the journey that Caitlyn Jenner has made over the past months and years. In the article, Jenner declares that “If I was lying on my deathbed and I had kept this secret and never ever did anything about it, I would be lying there saying, ‘You just blew your entire life.’”
This gaffe aside, Joe Benigno is a uniquely American success story who beat the odds to forge a career in sports broadcasting. He started out as a regular caller to WFAN known as “Joe from Saddle River.” He subsequently nailed a guest-hosting gig on WFAN after winning a contest held by the station and later became WFAN’s longtime overnight host before joining with Evan Roberts on the Joe & Evan Show from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on weekdays.
Listen to the whole cringeworthy Caitlyn Jenner discussion between Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts below.
[image credit: Twitter ]