Ever since The Toucher and Rich Show ended in November 2023, the tension between former co-hosts Fred Toucher and Rich Shertenlieb has been palpable and, at times, downright nasty.
After Shertenlieb left the highly successful Boston radio program following various reports of behind-the-scenes drama, Toucher questioned his former co-host’s desire to be in the sports talk radio space. However, Shertenlieb did return to the space a few months later with The Rich Shertenlieb Show on 100.7 WZLX. He also didn’t wait very long to take a jab at Toucher, setting off the first of several back-and-forths to come. Last November, Shertenlieb announced that he was part of iHeartMedia layoffs, bringing his nascent show to an end. This led Toucher to take a victory lap while accusing his former co-host of attempting to backstab him. He’d do so again in the months that followed.
The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn recently went behind the scenes on the Toucher & Hardy show and invariably touched on the fallout from the show’s previous incarnation.
Finn notes a time in early 2023 when Toucher took a leave of absence to deal with career-threatening throat problems. While away from the show, he said on social media that Shertenlieb hadn’t checked to see how he was feeling (which he later admitted was untrue).
“Me being out with my throat problem is part of the reason I still have this job,” Toucher told Finn, “because they realized Rich couldn’t lead it.”
Finn also reached out to Shertenlieb for the story and received an email response.
“I have stayed silent in an attempt to take the high road while Fred Toucher says untrue and slanderous things about me in an attempt to defame my character, much like he admitted to doing to other members of our show months before I left,” he wrote. “This is disappointing, as Fred was someone I once considered a good friend.”
As noted by Barrett Media, Toucher addressed the comments on Thursday’s edition of his radio program, saying the story is “probably the most meaningful” of his career.” He also responded directly to Shertenlieb’s comments.
“There is a quote from Rich if you’re looking for that. It makes him look great – couldn’t make him look better. His instincts are still there, he’s still got it. He’s still got it. Good for him. He comes off beautifully…. And I don’t badmouth him at all in the article. I don’t even mention him by name in the article. I just say – management concurs with me about the thing, you can read it yourself – but he’s got a pretty quasi-legal statement up there, so good for him, good for him. That’s good stuff. He’s still got it.”
Toucher also added that various reports about what happened at the end of The Toucher and Rich Show were untrue.
“There was a bunch of stuff going on around and it was all kind of false, but you know what I did? I rode through it, and it was very frustrating for me because I didn’t like that all these false narratives were being said, but I’ve learned my lesson on social media,” Toucher said. “Had it been two years before, I would have gone ballistic on social media, but I didn’t, and so I’m very pleased at this story.”
Toucher might be trying to leave his rift with Shertenlieb in the past, but he’s found plenty of worthy targets to take his place in recent months.