Days into 2019, longtime Atlanta radio staple Wanda Smith is reportedly out of a job at V-103. The news comes nearly four months after she got into an on-air squabble with comedian Katt Williams, and fans think that may be what led to her getting the pink slip.
News of Smith’s firing emerged from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Jan. 3, which reported she won’t be on “Frank and Wanda In The Morning” any longer. Her exit was also reported with that of Miss Sophia, a local drag queen who dished on entertainment news and made history as the first drag queen to have a regular spot on an Atlanta morning radio show. Sophia worked with the station from 2006 to 2010 and returned last year. Both of them were not on Friday morning’s broadcast.
Both radio personalities were part of the initial incarnation of Frank Ski’s radio show that ran from 1998 to 2012. Smith left the program for one year in 2013 but came back during Ski’s stint away from the station, which ended in 2016 when he began hosting weekend programming. Ski worked at a Washington, D.C. station, was signed as on-air talent for Bounce TV and did other consulting work during his time away from the station. He resumed his post at “The People’s Station” by the top of 2018. The opportunity came when Ryan Cameron stepped away from his own morning show. The result was the second version of “Frank and Wanda In The Morning,” where Katt Williams went toe-to-toe with Smith in September.
“Only one of our hair is movin’ while we talkin’,” he said in one of his many digs after taking aim at her apparent poor interviewing skills and cooking abilities. “Tell Wanda to take off them headphones and that wig. That wig and them headphones come together?”
Smith’s clapbacks were in vain as she brought up Williams’ legal issues, but the actor, who also took shots at Smith’s local comedy career, got all the laughs in the studio and online.
(The Real Miss Sophia/Facebook)
And that wasn’t the end of it either. Smith’s husband LaMorris Sellers confronted Williams at a venue where the radio personality was hosting a comedy show. At the Atlanta Comedy Theater in September, Sellers allegedly pulled a gun on Williams and chased him around a grocery store when the star took off.
As such, several fans online have suspected that the radio host’s issues with Williams had something to do with her getting the ax from the show, which has had strong ratings for most of the year before having a ratings dip around Christmas.
“Wanda Smith, Miss Sophia out at V-103. DAMN KATT WILLIAMS F—N CAREERS UP JK.”
“Katt Williams Got Wanda Smith FIRED From Atlanta Radio V-103.”
“I think Wanda’s husband got her fired over that Katt Williams situation.”
The AJC reported V-103 execs don’t usually disclose why they make changes with personnel. The station’s general manager, Rick Caffey, did not respond to comment requests from the paper.
As for who will replace Smith as Ski’s co-host, the AJC reports he’ll have a younger female co-host shortly, but who exactly it will be is uncertain.
Miss Sophia, whose real name is Joe Taylor, has spoken out about the firing and expressed “disappointed” while adding that Smith is “not in a good space.”
“And I can understand that because the first time that I was let go, I was feeling the same way that she felt,” Sophia says to CBS46 Friday. “Wanda has been there for over 25 years so to be in an industry for over 25 years, you expect to have the big hoopla when you get ready to leave … So to her, I believe it was a total shock. And it was also a shock for me when she came out of the office and told me that they had let her go as well.”
A big shake up for a popular Atlanta morning radio show. Multiple sources confirming to us, Wanda Smith and Miss Sophia are out, at V-103. CBS46 sat down with Miss Sophia, whose real name is Joe Taylor.
Posted by CBS46 on Friday, January 4, 2019
