Cumulus Radio lawsuit drove Dallas sports-talk host to alcoholism: report

It's easy to treat sports-media transactions as some type of palace intrigue. In 2023, Dan McDowell and Jake Kemp, former co-hosts of the Dallas station’s The Hang Zone, launched their own podcast when contract negotiations with Cumulus Radio fell through. A lawsuit followed, with Cumulus' parent company accusing their former hosts of violating a noncompete clause.

It made for interesting headlines for Dallas-area sports fans. For Kemp, it was a nightmare.

In a candid interview with the Dallas Morning News, Kemp revealed the sobriety he found after launching the podcast in July 2023 was broken a month later when the lawsuit hit.

“You have no way of knowing what that’s going to be like until you go through it,” Kemp told Sarah Hepola. “It was the worst experience of my life.”

Kemp — now sober — offered many more details of his relationship with alcohol over the years, a behind-the-scenes struggle that he declined to reveal publicly until returning to the podcast after his second stint in rehab.

The story offers a reminder that these kind of transactions and lawsuits, however common they might seem, can take an uncommon toll on the human beings involved. The bland statement released by KTCK 96.7 after the station reached a settlement with The Dumb Zone hosts belies the anguish that comes from getting sued:

“Susquehanna Radio LLC, parent company of KTCK 96.7 FM/1310 AM The Ticket, along with Dan McDowell and Jake Kemp, are pleased to announce a mutually agreed resolution of their litigation. They each appreciate one another’s sincere efforts to resolve their differences so that everyone involved can move forward. The parties wish each other well.”

Kudos to Kemp for revealing he needed more help than meticulously prepared words of assurance from a public-relations person.

Home/Sports Media